National Bank of Egypt's (NBE), the country's largest state bank, new microfinance and electronic payment arm, Al Ahly Tamkeen, has started to provide its services at certain branches in Upper Egypt. The company seeks to achieve the the state and the Central Bank of Egypt's (CBE) strategy in supporting financial inclusion, Dalia Al-Baz, Vice-Chairperson NBE and Chairperson of Tamken This would entail taking advantage of the technical capabilities and the strong technological infrastructure owned by the NBE, and developing it with huge investments to achieve its strategy. Tamkeen has acquired a controlling share at e-payments firm Momken to become Al Ahly Momken. The platform also established the Al Ahly Tamkeen Microfinance Company, to serve micro-enterprises of various types, seeking to expand the beneficiary customer base. Al-Baz indicated that the Al Ahly Tamkeen Microfinance was keen to start providing its services as a first stage through eight branches in Upper Egypt governorates. This is due to the region not being covered sufficiently, and in order to provide the services needed by the people of that region.
