Amazon Payment Services, a payment processing service in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, announced on Tuesday it it will be waiving all fees for new businesses wishing to benefit from its services in Egypt. The move aligns with Amazon Payment Services' mission to provide businesses with simple, affordable, as well as trusted online payment experiences. Amazon Payment Services will waive all account setup and maintenance fees for micro, small, and medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) in Egypt for its digital payment service throughout the month of Ramadan until the end of June 2021. The step aims to support an initiative launched by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) to encourage the transition to digital payments in Egypt. Amazon Payment Services implemented the policy in tandem with its partner banks in Egypt; Commercial International Bank (CIB) and Banque Misr, in addition to Robusta and zVendo. Commenting on the initiative, Omar Soudodi, Managing Director of Amazon Payment Services, said: "We are pleased to be supporting the CBE's drive to help Egyptian businesses digitise and scale online. At a time when many small businesses are facing unprecedented challenges in the face of COVID-19's restrictions and social distancing measures, the importance of building their online presence has never been greater." Omar Soudodi, Managing Director of Amazon Payment Services, said. "Enabling seamless, reliable and affordable digital transactions for Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) will help them to boost their revenue streams." The initiative is part of the Egyptian central bank's continued efforts to support the economy during the ongoing pandemic. Ihab Dorra, Head of Retail and Branches at Banque Misr, said: "Our ongoing digitalisation initiatives have demonstrated huge success recently, as we achieved the highest growth rate in e-commerce and QR code transactions in Egypt Y2020." "Our strategy includes a focus on fintech and we are looking forward to utilising our partnership with Amazon Payment Services to make facilitating payments even easier and will be offering our merchants some attractive benefits such as no setup fees or monthly fees, and exclusive rates for card and wallet payment." "This comes in light of the Bank's strategic vision to facilitate payment transactions for Egyptian citizens and in supporting the state efforts towards financial inclusion." Mohamed Noaman, Head of Payment Acceptance at CIB Egypt, said: "One of the core objectives of CIB's digital transformation agenda is to expand payment acceptance to cover a wide range of customers in the local market. "CIB's Payment Acceptance team was able to enhance its payment solutions through various studies and surveys concentrating on e-commerce development, which we have embedded into our strategic planning." "We have also followed the various CBE initiatives which have allowed the country's financial institutions to maintain a high-value proposition while effectively supporting the digital ecosystem." Tarek Bakry, Founder and CEO at zVendo, said: "The e-commerce sector is currently one of the fastest growing sectors, with 300-500 percent witnessed growth. That is why online selling has become a necessity and not merely a luxury anymore. "Being a part of the CBE initiative will help us achieve our goal and passion of growing merchants' businesses online by supporting retailers to digitise their business and to drive more sales with tailored e-commerce services and direct payments integrations with absolutely no technical knowledge required." Hussein Mohieldin, CEO at Robusta, said: "This is a great step towards financial inclusion and the growth of the e-commerce market. Egypt has been steadily working towards digital transformation in line with the government's 2030 strategy for a digital Egypt, and it comes as no surprise that initiatives like these, led by the Central Bank, are being taken to pave the way for more retailers to start adopting e-commerce as a channel. It's our turn as business and technology consultants to help retailers transition to selling online efficiently." Amazon Payment Services processes transactions for thousands of businesses across multiple industries, ranging from aviation to travel and tourism, retail, insurance, real estate, government, and more. With such a diverse customer base, the company has built strong expertise that supports businesses at every scale, from small and medium enterprises (SMEs) looking to establish their online presence to large-scale enterprises requiring a dependable payment service to handle high volumes of transactions safely.
