World’s first ever interoperable Arabic mobile money launched

The MasterCard, National Bank of Egypt (NBE) and Etisalat have launched the mobile payment wallet in Egypt.

The solution becomes the world’s first ever interoperable Arabic mobile money programme.

A press release issued today June 25, 2013, said this new programme is an early implementation of the Mobile Payment Solution that MasterCard and Egyptian Banks Company (EBC) introduced to this 94 million mobile users market.

The first phase of this programme will allow subscribers to transfer money to anyone participating in the service using their mobile phones, and to load cash on their phones or take out cash through over 100 of Etisalat’s branches and 305 of NBE’s branches across Egypt. This represents a new era for mobile users as the service will be the fastest, most convenient and secure money transfer channel in Egypt, according to MasterCard.

The second phase of the programme will allow subscribers to pay their bills through their mobile phones, top up their mobile prepaid lines, and pay for goods and services at several merchants’ locations in Egypt, in addition to using it for e-commerce payments globally, said the release.

Commenting on the launch, Mohamed Kamel Bayoumi, Managing Director of EBC said “We have chosen MasterCard to partner with us on this transformative mobile money programme to benefit from their global experience as they have successfully implemented more than 30 such programmes around the world. Our objective, together with the Central Bank and the government, is to bring financial services to the fingertips of each and every Egyptian.”

By Dorcas Appiah