In the context of implementing the strategy of the National Payments Council headed by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to support the transformation of the digital economy, and in continuation of the proactive efforts of the Central Bank of Egypt in the digital development, the bank announced the official launch of the national system for the instant payments network and the InstaPay application for banking sector customers, allowing transactions to be conducted electronically in real time.
This came in the presence of Tariq Amer, Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt, Ramy Abul-Naga, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, Gamal Negm, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, and a number of ambassadors, leaders of the Central Bank, heads of banks, leaders of the banking sector, and heads of leading international companies in the field of electronic payments. .
On this occasion, Central Bank Governor Tarek Amer stated that “the launch of the new instant payments network is an important step on the way to achieving our comprehensive vision of national payment systems in a way that guarantees the independence of payments inside Egypt and enhances the goals of the National Payments Council in transforming into a society less dependent on banknotes and contributes to facilitating financial transactions. citizens in a safe, effective and instantaneous manner.
Mr. Rami Abul-Naga, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, pointed out that “the instant payments network depends on the latest interoperability systems to link between banks through a digital infrastructure that allows integration with financial technology companies and creates tremendous opportunities to provide innovative solutions for all segments of society, which will help to Placing Egypt among the leading countries in the fields of electronic banking financial services.
It is worth noting that the InstaPay application is the first application licensed by the Central Bank of Egypt to provide a payment service through the instant payments network. The company is specialized in securing electronic payment networks and applications, as the new system relies on the latest data and transaction security systems in the world, which ensure full encryption of all confidential data and not stored by the application, in order to ensure the maximum degree of protection for the rights of banking sector customers.
Amani Shams El-Din, Senior Under-Governor of the Central Bank of the Banking Operations and Payment Systems Sector, explained that “the instant payments network is a true embodiment of the stages of development led by the Central Bank to keep pace with the development of payment systems and services, and the system is the first actual application of open banking services (Open Banking in Egypt, It comes within the framework of the Central Bank’s efforts to provide an advanced infrastructure for the banking sector, allowing 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.
Engineer Ihab Nasr, Assistant Undersecretary of the Banking Operations and Payment Systems Sector, 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 and cards. Feature of 22 million cards and e-wallets estimated at regarding 27 million wallets. The user of the application can obtain customer support service through the application itself or through the short number 15989, or by contacting the customer support service from the bank issuing the transaction. The Central Bank of Egypt also approved exempting application users from fees until June 2022 to stimulate transactions on the InstaPay application, Currently available for download from digital app stores, whether Android or iPhone.
It is scheduled to generalize the use of the instant payments network – according to the directives of the Central Bank – in all banks operating in Egypt, where 10 banks currently support the network (the National Bank of Egypt, Banque Misr, Commercial International Bank, Alexandria Bank, Qatar National Bank, Arab Bank, Arab African Bank and Cairo Bank The Egyptian Gulf Bank and the Arab Banking Company Bank).
