Mastercard partners with Egyptian Banks Company

Mastercard collaborates with the Egyptian Banks Company (EBC), the advanced payments network and domestic operator in Egypt. The collaboration marks a significant step towards fostering sustainable economic growth activities, further enhancing the digital payments landscape and driving inclusive economic development in Egypt.

In a previous partnership, Mastercard, in collaboration with the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) and EBC, had supported the implementation of card tokenization regulations by providing infrastructure to issuing banks across the country, expected to launch in 2024.

Executives from EBC said that their institution is the technology division of the Central Bank of Egypt responsible for creating and managing the national payment system and promoting electronic payments. A significant milestone in Egypt's payment landscape is its partnership with Mastercard. Together, they aim to enhance digital payment infrastructure, develop wallet systems, and innovate in tokenization. This collaboration underscores the importance of partnerships between local and international entities in driving Egypt's digital payment future.

Also commenting on this partnership, Mastercard officials highlighted their long-term commitment to advancing digital payment solutions in Egypt, in line with the government's vision for financial and digital inclusivity. Their collaboration with EBC is poised to significantly impact the digital payments landscape, promoting financial inclusion and sustainable economic growth. By leveraging Mastercard's global expertise alongside EBC's innovative technology infrastructure, the partnership aims to develop new solutions and use cases that capitalise on Egypt's real-time payments system, ushering in a new era of digital payment services.

What does the EBC do?

Egyptian Banks Company for Technological Advancement is the progressive payments network and operator of national payments schemes in Egypt. Serving as the technological arm of the Central Bank of Egypt, EBC fosters financial inclusion, modernisation of governmental payments, and supports the transformation into a less-cash economy. Their mission is to enable seamless, instant, affordable and interoperable payment experience for individuals, businesses and the banking sector, in full compliance to international standards.

Pursuant to their mission, EBC focuses on talents, innovation and collaboration with key global and national players in the payments ecosystem. The institution operates a national payment infrastructure comprising the shared cash network ‘123’, Automatic Clearing House ‘ACH’, domestic card scheme Meeza, Mobile Wallets network ‘Meeza Digital’, the Instant Payment Network, and the super App ‘InstaPay’.