The Central Bank of Egypt has canceled the fees that MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) bear from the private sector to activate electronic collection services via the Internet (E-Commerce) until the end of June 2021. This step comes within the efforts for implementing the strategy of the National Payments Council initiated by President El-Sisi to encourage the transformation of the digital economy and the expansion of the use of electronic payment systems.
The initiative comes as a continuation of the Central Bank of Egypt’s efforts to confront the economic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, and in the interest of revitalizing and protecting the national economy and preserving the gains from economic reform and the stability of the banking sector.
Rami Abul-Naga, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank had stated that “the initiative comes within the framework of the Central Bank’s keenness to increase the number of companies activating electronic collection services . . .” which guarantees increasing citizens' awareness of the benefits of the e-commerce service during that period, encourages the continued popularity of electronic payment methods and channels, and supports the state and the central bank's approach to transforming into a society less dependent on banknotes. Amani Shams El Din, First Deputy Governor for the Banking Operations and Payment Systems Sector, explained that “the initiative also includes activating the acceptance of the QR code, as well as the acceptance of national payment cards “Meeza”through these applications and websites.
Through the initiative, the Central Bank of Egypt aims to reduce the financial burdens on companies by exempting them from the expenses that were required of them to activate the electronic collection service via the Internet, such as (the expenses that are paid once to activate the service, the monthly fees for the service, and the expenses of additional services that include but not limited to (Encryption services for cards 'Tokenization' - Periodic payments services 'Recurring' - ... etc.).
It is worth noting that this initiative comes within the framework of the package of initiatives launched by the Central Bank of Egypt during the Corona pandemic, the last of which was on January 1, 2021, and the Central Bank of Egypt affirms that it will continue to closely follow all developments on the global and local arenas, to intervene immediately by taking appropriate measures to protect the economy, market revitalization, and reaffirmation of banking and monetary stability
