Ahram Online: How do you perceive Egypt’s fintech growth over the past few years, and how do you forecast it is going forward?

Magdy Hassan: The Egyptian market is one of the most promising in the region. The fintech industry is expected to witness significant growth over the upcoming years due to the government's extensive efforts, the Central Bank of Egypt and the private sector.

These efforts have been gaining momentum for the past few years. We can see their results displayed in digital payments and ecommerce becoming the new normal and fintech becoming a complementary pillar to the financial industry.

The volume of electronic transactions in the Egyptian market increased to more than EGP 6.4 trillion in 2022, up from EGP 4.2 trillion in 2020.

In addition, the volume of e-commerce transactions also increased to EGP 3.5 billion, compared to about EGP 800 million in 2020, with a growth rate of about 337.5 percent.

Furthermore, the number of Point of Sale (POS) machines witnessed an unprecedented jump to exceed 800,000 devices, and the total number of electronic wallets increased to 26 million.

Also, the volume of e-commerce in Egypt has reached $6 billion via payment cards, whether credit or debit cards, according to the Internal Trade Development Authority, and this percentage is expected to double in the next few years.

However, the need for a digital payment solution still needs to be fulfilled. Most financial transactions remain in cash as the digital chain is broken, and the demand for convenient and instant e-payments keeps increasing. This increasing demand proves the existence of many untapped opportunities in the fintech sector.

Knowing that such a gap exists, Taly seeks to support the sector's growth and set the stage for accelerating the digital payments revolution further by enabling different sectors to integrate innovative digital payment and collection solutions. 

AO: How would Taly be a game changer in the market?

MH: Establishing Taly’s full-fledged platform, we focused our efforts on providing exceptional digital payment and collection services that are being introduced in the Egyptian market. We ensured that Taly’s platform can cater to all stakeholders and connect them via an unbroken digital flow while offering them a seamless and instant digital experience.

As a digital catalyst, we play the role of a technology ally who aims to lead a real digital transformation and accelerate the transition into a cashless society. Our digital ecosystem is backed by one of the largest digital infrastructures in the MENA region, an infrastructure we leverage to enable our clients from Banks, Merchants, Corporates, Consumers and Fintechs.

Taly offers a well-rounded digital solution for instant payment acceptance and collections, where corporates and merchants are enabled to manage, control and settle all their payments instantly. Simultaneously, Taly helps merchants expand their business online through e-commerce with convenient digital solutions, as well as obtain digital financing through banks and financing corporations.

Taly offers a wide range of digital solutions like tokenisation, where customers can use their phones as an alternative to plastic cards. In addition, Taly provides unique card features enabling customers to control their cards in real-time and monitor personal and family cards. These special features include setting withdrawal limits and controlling where to use the cards through a secure mobile application without contacting the bank.

Taly also provides banks and financial institutions with an integrated platform for managing and offering their buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) services, through which they can grant credit and collect instalments digitally.  Taly also helps BNPL providers to make the right credit decisions and determine the scope of financing, utilising analytics provided by Taly’s integrated platform.  As for fintech, Taly is keen on empowering them to implement innovative ideas through the appropriate infrastructure and Taly's products and services.

AO: What do you recommend for a healthier fintech atmosphere in the local market?

MH: The Egyptian economy is one of the world's most dynamic, with an up-and-coming financial technology and innovation sector. This makes it crucial that financial technology companies work together in a healthy competition to achieve digital transformation, reduce the reliance on cash and create an integrated digital ecosystem. This will significantly promote Egypt's Vision 2030 and achieve leadership in digital transactions.

To ensure this progress is made, Taly provides a complete suite of products, services, and smart infrastructure solutions to support fintechs, help them materialise their innovations, and turn them into effective digital financial products. We also enable all stakeholders, and empower them to deliver the best customer experience as we believe that the real competition is against cash.