Banque Misr, Egypt's second largest public bank, has issued so far 871,000 national e-payment card Meeza, its vice chairman Akef El Maghraby on Sunday. Meeza is the latest financial inclusion initiative by Egypt's central bank to push towards more cashless payments in Egypt. It aims to facilitate the transition to a less cash-dependent economy in the North African country. There are currently two types of Meeza cards; Meeza Prepaid card and Meeza debit cards. The prepaid cards are issued based on a simple Know your customer (KYC) requirements. and are exempted from administrative fees for a limited period. Meeza allows customers to withdraw cash as well as recharge it through ATMs, as well as enabling them to conduct purchases and e-commerce transactions on a local basis. The prepaid card can be recharged through the banks or ATMs as many times as its holder desires before it expires. Issuing the cards are part of Banque Misr's role to promote financial inclusion and digital transformation among citizens to support the government's efforts to drive transition to a cashless society, El Maghraby told Amwal Al Ghad. "Banque Misr is one of the first lenders to issue this type of cards," El Maghraby said. Despite being one of the fastest growing countries in the Middle East region, Egypt has a "low penetration of credit card usage" due to its high dependency on cash-based transactions.
