The Central Bank of Egypt announced the official launch of the national system for the instant payments network and the InstaPay application for banking sector customers: allowing financial transactions to be conducted electronically and instantly.
The step was implemented within the framework of the digital transformation strategy of the National Payments Council, headed by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
The launch of the new instant payments network is an important step on the way to achieving the Central Bank’s comprehensive vision of national payment systems.
This guarantees the independence of payments inside Egypt and enhances the goals of the National Payments Council in transforming to a society less dependent on banknotes and contributes to facilitating e-financial transactions for citizens in a safe, effective and instantaneous manner, Central Bank of Egypt Governor, Tarek Amer, said.
The network of instant payments depends on the latest interoperability systems to link between banks through a digital infrastructure that allows integration with financial technology companies.
This creates tremendous opportunities to provide innovative solutions for all segments of society, which will help put Egypt among leading countries in the fields of e-banking financial services, Ramy Aboul Naga, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, said.
The Egyptian Banks Company, the technological arm of the Central Bank, has developed the instant payments system and the InstaPay application in accordance with the directives of the Central Bank of Egypt with the assistance of major international consulting companies specialized in securing e-payment networks and applications.
The new system rely on the latest data and transaction security systems worldwide, which ensure full encryption of all confidential data, which do not get stored by the app.
This is in order to ensure the maximum degree of protection for the rights of banking sector customers.
The instant payments network is a true embodiment of the stages of development led by the Central Bank to keep pace with the latest payment systems and services, Amany Shams Eddin, Undersecretary of the Governor of the Central Bank for the Banking Operations and Payment Systems Sector, explained.
The system is the first actual application of open banking services in Egypt, within the framework of the Central Bank’s efforts to provide an advanced infrastructure for the banking sector.
This allows the sector’s customers to link all their accounts with all banks through one application in addition to completing financial transactions in real time, without being restricted to working hours or official holidays, she added.
Assistant Undersecretary of the Banking Operations and Payment Systems Sector, Ihab Nasr, confirmed that the InstaPay application provides an exceptional payment experience using a mobile phone, enabling banking sector customers to transfer funds in real time between bank accounts with banks operating on the network, as well as transfer between bank accounts.
Meeza cards numbering about 22 million cards, and e-wallets numbering 27 million nationwide.
The user of the application can obtain customer support service through the application itself or through the hotline 15989 or by contacting the customer service of the bank conducting the transaction.
The Central Bank of Egypt also announced exempting the InstaPay users from fees until June 2022 to stimulate transactions on the application, which is currently available for download on app stores, for Android and iPhone devices.
The use of the instant payments network will be generalized, according to the directives of the Central Bank, in all banks operating in Egypt.
Ten banks currently joined the network namely the National Bank of Egypt, Banque Misr, Commercial International Bank, ALEXBANK, Qatar National Bank, Arab Bank, Arab African International Bank and Banque du Caire, EG Bank and Bank ABC.
