The National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) has issued a report on the indicators of mobile wallet usage in Egypt during the first half of 2021 -from January to June- as NTRA seeks to promote and raise awareness of e-payment methods.
NTRA issued the report to support the state plan for attaining financial inclusion, coordinate with Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to create an enabling environment for e-payment, and develop regulations on payment through mobile wallet. This will help promote e-payment methods on a wide scale, and accelerate the transformation into a cashless society.
According to the report, the total number of mobile wallets in Egypt reached 16.3 million, with 81 million e-transactions conducted through them. The top three services obtained through mobile wallets were money transfer, cash deposit and withdrawal, and balance recharge (mobile phone and Internet).
As for the geographical distribution, the report noted that the mobile wallet service was used nationwide, with Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, Dakahlia and Sharqia coming ahead of the other governorates, having 47% of mobile wallet users. The service was also used by different age groups, the largest of which was the 26-45 group.
It is worth mentioning that NTRA launched a number of initiatives to encourage people to use e-payment methods. The initiatives included enabling pension disbursement through mobile wallet, allowing money transfer from bank accounts to mobile wallets and facilitating paying for purchases from mobile wallets.
