Fawry, an electronic bill payment and presentment network, and CashU, a prepaid online payment gateway, have partnered in a bid to offer online shoppers the opportunity to top up their accounts using the Fawry network of post offices and retail outlets. The partnership sealed Monday makes Fawry the official payment service in Egypt for CashU. Launched in December 2009, Fawry enables Egyptians to receive all their bills and pay them through a single, unified electronic network that is integrated with existing payment channels such as online banking systems, ATM machines, mobile phones, call centers and Integrated Voice Response (IVR) systems. A total of 3,100 retail outlets and post offices offer Fawry across Egypt, including pharmacies, supermarkets and convenience stores. Ashraf Sabry, CEO of Fawry, said that the partnership will encourage people to shop online frequently with the knowledge that it is safe and also provides a hassle-free shopping experience. Using an example from the everyday lives of Egyptians, he explained that before this deal, the CashU service was more like a prepaid card which was distributed around shops and could be bought to add credit to phone lines, only it would be used as a debit card to purchase goods online. After the deal, Fawry is offering CashU customers the ability to “charge on air.” “You can now go to any kiosk, pharmacy, supermarket or shop that deals with the Fawry service and charge your CashU card,” Sabry explained. One of the main problems they are addressing is safety and trust. “Would you be worried to book a flight on the EgyptAir website using your credit card or buy a book from Amazon?” he asks. “You would not thing twice, trust is the most important thing we are offering,” he said. He explained that we take risks every day riding a plane or car or crossing the street but what is important is that the risk is limited to a point that is manageable. In the beginning there was a lack of trust, so a customer who paid his Vodafone bill would call Vodafone after to see if the transaction was completed. “But now there is more trust and we feel that there is more demand. We now have 3,100 access points and have managed to create a network to manage that demand,” he said. Commenting on the e-commerce market, Sabry said that overseas e-commerce is lagging because of customs. There is a lack of websites in Egypt that sell products the consumers want, forcing them to purchase these commodities from websites based abroad. The problem is that these are considered imports with high duties, “so a LE 10 book cost LE 100 with transport and extra costs.” He said that the number of local websites would eventually grow as people's demand grew for the e-commerce sector. “For Fawry, the number of websites that have asked for our service is very impressive and increasing,” he said. A report conducted by Fawry found that one of the main things making it easier for consumers is using credit cards online instead of actually going to pay bills which involve standing in long queues and traffic jams. “This is convenience and it is the essence of what we provide,” he said. “Through this partnership we have provided our customers with a unique method that makes it easier and safer to shop online,” said Martin Waldenstrom, CEO of CashU. “The new system offers flexibility of funding and extensive network of banks, post offices and retail outlets which fits perfectly into the CashU model,” he added. Waldenstrom said that the process is quick, safe and simple, saying that trust is key for e-payment models. “The partnership will also enable around the clock availability which addresses the needs of modern gamers which are one of the prime users of CashU in Egypt, because our studies have found that they make their purchases at irregular hours,” Waldenstrom pointed out. “CashU has been assessing the Egyptian market for quite some time. We have been working for two years with Radio Shack and during these years we have seen that demand for CashU grew considerably, mainly in gaming,” he said. With e-commerce expected to grow between 13-16 percent worldwide in 2011, Waldenstrom said that the penetration of credit card usage and e-commerce in the Egyptian market is still very low compared to Gulf states particularly if bill payments or travel payments are excluded. “Before this partnership we were focusing on two sides of e-commerce, how to increase user trust and use e-payment methods and how to get merchants interested in using the service. Now with CashU we can just focus on the merchants, since Fawry will focus on attracting consumers,” he concluded. Fawry was founded as an electronic banking and payment technology company in mid-2008 with a paid up capital of LE 46 million.
