Spring 21 Capstone 640pm

For years, Egyptian companies have been paying salaries in cash, and people have been saving money outside banks.  Only 10 percent of Egyptians have bank accounts, according to Payfort’s State of Payments in the Arab World 2014 report. Over the previous decade, the electronic payment market has been penetrated by two firms: state-owned e-Finance, which handles electronic payments from and to the government through banking channels, and private-sector Fawry, which was launched in 2008 to provide payment solutions through ATM machines, mobile wallets, and retail points. Chief technology officer of Fawry, Mostafa Elnahhas, told Wamda that his company succeeded in spreading 65,000 collection points in 300 cities for banked customers in Egypt. However, the electronic payment is still small-sized due to the large amount of unbanked customers and the low credit card penetration.

Regulations are, however, crippling entrepreneurs. Mourad Alashry, CEO of PayMe, launched his startup in August 2016. It  allows companies and businesses to collect electronic payment without signing contracts with banks or paying extra fees.  The startup offers a simple payment tool for companies to allow them to set up an account and have customers send money through it. PayMe app was forced by Egypt’s fiscal regulator to stop operating for four months to abide by regulations. (Photo via PayMe) However, shortly after its launch, the Central Bank of Egypt, the state regulator, suspended Payme’s operations as a payment firm as it wasn’t cooperating with a bank. The firm had to abide by this regulation until it followed the requirements and collaborated with state-owned bank the National Bank of Egypt, then resumed its business in January 2017.  

Regulations are, however, crippling entrepreneurs. Mourad Alashry, CEO of PayMe, launched his startup in August 2016. It  allows companies and businesses to collect electronic payment without signing contracts with banks or paying extra fees.  The startup offers a simple payment tool for companies to allow them to set up an account and have customers send money through it.

Our new cash pick up service in Lebanon will allow people in the diaspora to send money to be collected as cash at trusted, dependable financial brands back home.”

The discussion in this section is centered around mobile money and mobile financial services. These terms are not meant to exclude digital payments and digital finance from the discussion. While a systematic distinction between the terms – that are often used interchangeably in the literature, with ‘digital’, however, referring to the end user requiring access to digital devices (as opposed to a simple text-based mobile phone) – can be useful, as generally speaking access to the internet enhances possibilities [17••], we instead explicitly mention the role of the internet wherever access is critical, as most of the services outlined below (or at least some equivalents) are accessible without internet. This point has to be evaluated positively in terms of accessibility.

In the last decade, the impact of financial technology (fintech) on Africa's financial sector and other key sectors has been phenomenal. As a key driver of growth in the region, fintech is a viable alternative to traditional banking in urban and rural areas. In Africa, fintech creates an enabling environment that opens up the financial sector's value chain and promotes efficiency gains

Fintech services, with 84% affirming their awareness of Fintech (compared to 62% in 2015). Nigeria has witnessed an increase in Fintech innovation and utilization.

WorldRemit charges you a transfer fee on each transaction, which depends on the currency you are sending, the amount and the delivery option.

AIRO: There is a growing demand among Egyptian consumers for more convenient payment methods, according to a recent survey conducted by Fawry, the first nationwide electronic payment service in Egypt. Over 90 percent of Egyptians said that saving time was their primary concern when it comes to paying bills.

Ashraf Sabry, CEO of Fawry, said, “Research conducted for Fawry by IPSOS showed that 85.6 percent of respondents surveyed are seeking more efficient payment methods for household bills. The average Egyptian family has between 15 to 17 regular payments to make. These include mobile and landline bills, utilities, insurance, school or university fees and much more.

Fawry was established in response to growing consumer demand for alternative payment methods that simplify the process of receiving bills and paying them. Fawry today has 12,000 Fawry payment points across the country, that form one-stop-shop, instant, multiple-bill payment locations

Also by making payments through encrypted one-time token information, information is not exposed externally and by supporting a separate Secure Element (SE) that can independently and securely store sensitive information, security was improved.

The probability that a customer would incur financial losses in financial transactions conducted using Fintech is referred to as financial risk particularly when these losses would have been avoided if the same transactions had been conducted on a conventional platform (Keong et al., 2020; Razzaque et al., 2020). Financial risk can also be incurred by the financial service provider thereby distorting the operating budget of the firm. An example of a financial loss according to Khalil and Alam (2020) is when the process of launching a Fintech service has taken a longer time than planned thereby translating to an increase in the total cost of implementation. The prevalence of financial risk has heightened due to the nature of digital technology employed by Fintech, which could lead to recurrence in financial losses driven by electronic fraud (e-fraud) (Keong et al., 2020). These authors also listed other causes or drivers of financial risk as factors related to budgetary exchange framework, currency misrepresentation, and additional exchange fees that accompany the preferred value. 

When it initially started, vendors would receive a voucher and redeem it at certain ATMs and received a pin code with that voucher. That became a bit of a problem as some vendors could not read and did not know how to operate the ATM machine so that was phased out. Vendors then had to bring a bank statement for their SnapScan accounts to be linked to their bank accounts. Those vendors who did not have a bank account had to collect their cash every second week. Problems did occur where customers paid short and vendors complained that the right amounts are not in or the money has been withdrawn but there was always a problem and results would show that the money was drawn. All issues were always resolved by SnapScan. And it became a pain with vendors not collecting their money on time and when they don’t keep the proof of their payments on their phones. Hence, I always have to liaise with SnapScan staff. Vendors getting their payments in their bank account is so much better.

When it initially started, vendors would receive a voucher and redeem it at certain ATMs and received a pin code with that voucher. That became a bit of a problem as some vendors could not read and did not know how to operate the ATM machine so that was phased out. Vendors then had to bring a bank statement for their SnapScan accounts to be linked to their bank accounts. Those vendors who did not have a bank account had to collect their cash every second week. Problems did occur where customers paid short and vendors complained that the right amounts are not in or the money has been withdrawn but there was always a problem and results would show that the money was drawn. All issues were always resolved by SnapScan. And it became a pain with vendors not collecting their money on time and when they don’t keep the proof of their payments on their phones. Hence, I always have to liaise with SnapScan staff. Vendors getting their payments in their bank account is so much better.

Fawry For Banking Technology And Electronic Payment is engaged in providing electronic payment services in Egypt. It offers ways to pay bills and other services in multiple channels like online, using ATMs, mobile wallets and retail points. The firm's network of retailers includes small groceries, pharmacies, stationary, and post-offices among others.

Pula says it provides farmers with insurance bundled with inputs (such as seeds and fertiliser) and farmer advisory services to help increase their yields and boost (and protect) their income. “In our five years since launching, we’ve built strong traction for our products. However, the fact remains that across Africa and other emerging markets, there are still millions of smallholder farmers with risks to their livelihoods that have not been covered,” says Goslinga. Insurance is unpopular in Africa, with the continent’s insurance penetration estimated to be 2.8% in 2017. Insurance penetration is particularly low in the agricultural sector, and convincing farmers to buy insurance during favourable seasons is difficult.

Yes! SnapScan is safe to use on multiple levels: The app requires a PIN to be entered before any transaction can be completed. This prevents anyone who has your phone from making transactions, as your PIN should be known only to you.  Your card details are also encrypted and stored safely and securely on your phone. Even if your phone is stolen, nobody will be able to see or access your card details.

SnapScan is a new innovative mobile payment App on a smartphone. It provides a cashless, card-less payment app that consumers can use at thousands of merchants across South Africa or to make donations to CANSA.  It can be used for customers of any bank in South Africa (not just Standard Bank).

Online money transfer providers typically offer the strongest exchange rates and lowest fees on money transfers to Lebanon.

FarmDrive (FD), a Kenyan startup set to unlock millions of dollars in loans for smallholder farmers in Kenya and sub-Saharan Africa, received a follow-on investment from EWB Canada last month, with participation from AK IMPACT INVESTORS, 1 to 4 Foundation, ADAP SEED FUND 2 and The Lakes Charitable Foundation.

That’s how mobile money accounts first came about. Mobile money apps don’t require a brick-and-mortar bank, but they otherwise end up functioning a lot like a bank account and debit card would for an American — meaning your average person in Kenya with such an account now has access to most of the same financial services a person in the US does. Mobile money got off the ground early in the developing world, where people used texting-based services before smartphones became common. There were early attempts to set up such systems in the 2000s in South Africa and the Philippines. But the breakthrough was the extraordinary early success of Kenya’s M-Pesa, which actually predates apps like Venmo. (“Pesa” is Swahili for money; the “M” stands for “mobile.”) The project that became M-Pesa started in 2002 when phone companies noticed that they had unintentionally invented something that almost resembled a currency.

WorldRemit, the London startup that has focused on enabling competitively-priced, quick money transfers from migrant workers and immigrants living in developed countries back home, typically in developing countries, has raised $175 million in a Series D round of funding from TCV, Accel and Leapfrog.

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