Vodafone tops e-wallets in Egypt

 

Vodafone tops e-wallets in Egypt

 

By Ahmed Kamel

There has been a silver lining in the cloud for cashless transactions on the back of the Covid-19 pandemic with the number of e-wallets rising by leaps and bounds since March.

The number of e-wallets jumped17 per from 12.3 million at the end of March to 14.4 million in October, the state-run National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) said in a statement.

Vodafone took the lion’s share of e-wallets totaling 65 per cent. Orange, Etisalat and We accounted for 23, 11 and one per cent respectively.

The number of transactions surged by 156 per cent to 9.9 million, up from 3.5 million. Cairo, Giza and Alexandria topped e-payment transactions with 1.9 million (15 per cent), 1.4 million (11 per cent) and 693,000 (nine per cent), respectively, according to NTRA statement.

In terms of gender, men accounted for 72 per cent of total e-payment volumes, according to NTRA.

The Central Bank is of Egypt (CBE) launched in September an e-payment initiative to boost digital payment solutions to minimize dependence on cash in daily transactions.

Ramy Abul Naga, CBE Deputy Governor revealed that the e-payment initiative cost LE600 million ($38.5 million).

The points of sales, where e-payment solutions are accepted, rose to 500,000, up from 200,000, across the country.

Abul Naga told the local media that CBE’s vision for transforming into a cashless society comes in line with the directives of the National Council for Payments (NCP), which is headed by the President Abdel Fattah El Sisi.