The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) signed a cooperation protocol with the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) to facilitate the issuance of licences and approvals with regard to payment instruments for consumer finance or other payment methods approved by CBE. This comes within the framework of the strategy of the National Payments Council headed by President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, and in implementation of the Egyptian government's strategy to develop and automate such procedures to facilitate citizens' access to various financial services. The cooperation protocol was signed by Ramy Aboul Naga, Deputy Governor of CBE, and Islam Azzam, Vice-President of FRA. The agreement comes with the aim of setting up a mechanism to facilitate the executive procedures for obtaining the necessary licenses and approvals from CBE, which are established under the provisions of the Law Regulating Consumer Finance Activity issued by Law No. 18 of 2020, with regard to commercial payment cards or other means of payment approved by the Central Bank. This protocol benefits all consumer finance companies that issue electronic payment tools to customers, as they will be licensed based on joint coordination between the Central Bank of Egypt and the Financial Regulatory Authority, where companies will be able to use payment cards to disburse the value of the consumer loan to citizens electronically, which will be reflected positively on the ease of providing service to citizens and merchants dealing with this type of company. The 3-year protocol is in line with the state's orientations towards transforming into a society less dependent on banknotes by providing electronic payment and enhancing financial inclusion.
