Retail Payment Systems
In the OIC Member Countries
47
Large Value Payment Systems
The Egyptian Bank Company (EBC) was established in 1995 under the sponsorship and
approval of the Central Bank of Egypt, which retains a 27% share in the company. Another
27% is owned by the National Investment Bank and the remaining shares are split among 16
banks operating in the country. The objective of this technology company is to provide
Egyptian banks with the infrastructure required for electronic payments and clearing systems
in coordination with the CBE. EBC operates ‘123’, a platform that provides electronic switching
and clearing of local debit transactions and also functions as an international gateway through
MasterCard. Egypt’s 123 card is an interesting example of a regional based credit/pre-paid
system that differs from the MasterCard’s Cirrus network and is a “smart” node of the network
it serves.
Retail Payment Systems
The backbone of retail payment systems are the banks, however payments are also facilitated
in Egypt by microfinance institutions. Egypt currently has 39 banks: 5 public, 27 private and
joint venture banks, and 7 branches of foreign banks (IFC, 2011). Combined, the banking
sector has a total of 3,443 branches: 2088 branches of public banks, 1270 joint venture and
private, and 85 branches foreign. Thus 60% of the bank branches are provided by the public
sector.
There are 1.4 to 1.6 million active clients of microfinance institution [MFI] in Egypt. Six NGOs
represent 60% of the market and there are 450-600 smaller such organisations. Four banks
deliver microfinance services: Banque Du Caire, Banque Misr, Bank of Alexandria, and National
Development Bank. While they do provide liquidity, MFIs cannot accept deposits, nor can they
provide insurance. The credit bureau, ISCORE, provides its services to MFIs at a discounted
rate.
There are also a number of other non-bank institutions providing liquidity. The Social Fund for
Development (SFD) is a permanent institution focused on alleviating poverty and reducing
unemployment through interventions in community development and micro and small
enterprise development. APEX, a wholesaler of capital funds to financial institutions and NGOs,
also provides direct lending through its outlets. The SFD works through a network of 27
regional offices, one in each governorate and one in Luxor City. Together they have disbursed
almost 200,000 loans valued at over $50 million through NGO intermediaries.