The United Bank launches electronic payments through the national card "Meeza"

11/12/2018

To promote the transformation of a non-monetary society
The United Bank launches electronic payments through the national card "Meeza"

Ashraf El-Kady: Chairman of The United Bank
• Electronic payments are an essential engine in the digital transformation plan of the Egyptian state 2025
• The rapid spread of electronic transactions promises a rapid transformation of non-monetary society.
• The Central Bank of Egypt targets 20 million "Meeza" cards within 3 years.
• Domestic electronic payment volume is 2-3% of GDP.
• The Central Bank's plan is to increase the contribution of electronic payments in the GDP to 10% within 3 years.
• The themes of the Egyptian state strategy are the transformation of a digital society by 2025.

Cairo: 11 December 2018
Within the Egyptian state’s strategy towards the implementation of a non-monetary society by 2025, The United Bank recently announced the launch of the electronic payments of the national card "Meeza" via ATM and channels of acceptance in government entities through National Converter for Egypt's Banks Company.

The United Bank successfully completed the technical linking between The United Bank's ATM network and Egypt's Banks Company. All required tests were conducted, which resulted in the acceptance of national payment cards "Meeza" on the network of The United Bank's ATM, which are about 200 machines spread throughout the Republic.

The necessary testing procedures are currently being finalized in coordination with Egypt's Banks Company for the final confirmation of the transactions related to the electronic payment cards issued through The United Bank when used on the channels of acceptance of government agencies.

The rapid spread of electronic transactions promises a rapid transformation of non-monetary society
Ashraf El Kady, chairman of The United Bank, said local figures and indicators augur for the transformation of Egyptian society into a non-monetary society, as well as the efforts of the Egyptian state and The Central Bank of Egypt in support of this transformation by 2025.

Egypt ranks ninth in the world in Internet usage in January 2018 at an average usage of 8 hours and 10 minutes per day. While the UAE came in 11th place with a rate of 7 hours and 49 minutes. According to a study conducted by the Marketing Research Institute we are social. Egypt ranked number 6 in the most popular countries for social networking sites at 3 hours and 9 minutes, while the UAE came in the number of 10 hours and 56 minutes.

Take advantage of modern applications
El Kady said that the pattern of domestic consumption of digital technology has contributed significantly to the circulation of uses of smart phones since 2014. A report by the Egyptian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology revealed that there are 99.82 smart phones users in Egypt in 2017, which led to the Egyptian state and The Central Bank of Egypt and the Supreme Council of payments to complete the plans for the transformation of the non-monetary community and investment in the field of banking applications and government payments for smart phones.

Electronic payments are an essential engine in the digital transformation plan
Ashraf El Kady said e-payment in Egypt ranges between 2-3 % of GDP. The Central Bank plans to increase it to 10% over the next three years.

This trend is confirmed by the report by Amazon.com's Bifort, one of the leading companies in the field of e-payments, that the Arab region has seen 22% growth in electronic payments since 2016.

The report said three countries - Egypt, Saudi Arabia and The United Arab Emirates - are leading the electronic payments industry. Where exhibitions, conferences, leisure and aviation industries topped the growth of electronic payments.

Egypt, according to the report, ranked ahead of the growth in electronic shopping, with a rate of 32%. There are several examples of electronic payment companies in the Arab region, including Fawry - Masari - Bee - Momken - Khadamaty - Aman - Tammam - Egy Bill.

The themes of the Egyptian state strategy are the transformation of a digital society by 2025
Ashraf El Kady explained that the strategy of the Egyptian state in the transformation of digital society by 2025 was based on a number of themes, including: providing developers with the development of infrastructure and increase the volume of investments and the opening of new markets and the development of postal services and achieve the system of financial inclusion.

Efforts of the State and The Central Bank of Egypt to expand the base of financial inclusion
As well as the important initiatives launched by the Egyptian government and The Central Bank of Egypt to build a national database and expand the base of financial inclusion and transformation of the non-monetary community, including:
1- National Council of Payments, which is chaired by the President himself.
This aims to activate the electronic payment system. By expanding the base of financial inclusion and automating all transactions to reduce the circulation of cash. Reduce the use of banknotes outside the banking sector. As well as the integration of the largest number of citizens in the banking system and the integration of the informal sector to the official sector, this contributes to reducing the cost of money transfer and increase tax receipts.

2- Financial Inclusion Database
The Central Bank of Egypt has committed all banks working in the Egyptian market to prepare a database of financial inclusion clients. And that every citizen in Egypt has a bank account whether he has a known income or has no income at all. This is done by banks, post offices, mobile networks, civil society organizations, cooperative societies or insurance companies. He added that this will form a comprehensive national database that will determine the citizen's address, sources of income, and consumer and consumer behavior.

3- National Electronic Financial Network
It is an Egyptian electronic network linking the banking system and its various institutions to each other and to the merchants as well. And it includes about 3,700 branch of the Bank and Post Office and 4000 points of sale in the offices of insurances. Using payment cards issued by banks to citizens who do not have bank accounts and will be issued by the national number. It will be multi-application for possible future disbursement of cash and in-kind support. (Takaful and Dignity / Catering Project)

4- The Central Bank launch the first card on the National System
It will start work at the end of this year, God willing, under the name of "Meeza" and issued through the banks of Egypt in cooperation with the Ministry of Communications and The Central Bank of Egypt who aims to launch 20 million cards within the next three years.