CAIRO: There is a growing demand among Egyptian consumers for more convenient payment methods, according to a recent survey conducted by Fawry, the first nationwide electronic payment service in Egypt. Over 90 percent of Egyptians said that saving time was their primary concern when it comes to paying bills. The majority of those surveyed specified utilities, landline phone bills, rent, school fees and insurance premiums as the highest priority payments, as consumers are keen to avoid any disruption from these services. They also said that electronic payment is the most convenient way to settle telephone (both mobile and landline) bills, utilities, satellite TV and broadband Internet subscriptions. Ashraf Sabry, CEO of Fawry, said, “Research conducted for Fawry by IPSOS showed that 85.6 percent of respondents surveyed are seeking more efficient payment methods for household bills. The average Egyptian family has between 15 to 17 regular payments to make. These include mobile and landline bills, utilities, insurance, school or university fees and much more. “Let us assume that there are three bills to pay per month and each bill requires a one hour errand. That is three hours per family per month. If we calculate this for 20 million Egyptian families, it adds up to 240 million hours. Now imagine how much time Egyptians can save in their day with a real-time electronic payment service. In the end, this will contribute significantly to each individual's overall productivity, at the same time providing extreme convenience for the consumer. Over crowdedness and complex procedures are the two main concerns consumers have when it comes to making payments, and we are eliminating much of this through the expansion of the Fawry network,” he said. Statistics show that during the first quarter of 2011, during the early days of the January 25 Revolution, the extended curfew hours and the Internet blackout, the number of transactions on the Fawry network increased by 72 percent. Consumers were making their due payments via the closest pharmacy, grocery store or ATM machine, as this was the easiest and safest channel for them. Fawry was established in response to growing consumer demand for alternative payment methods that simplify the process of receiving bills and paying them. Fawry today has 12,000 Fawry payment points across the country, that form one-stop-shop, instant, multiple-bill payment locations. Fawry acts as a consolidator between a biller (a company selling a good or service) and banks or points of sale found at retail stores by creating a single point of contact for them to complete a transaction cycle which is primarily the presentation of a bill and the payment towards this bill. By creating this link through Fawry, a consumer is able to receive a bill and make a payment towards that bill electronically with ease, security and convenience from hundreds of locations throughout the country. Through its availability at over 15,000 clearly marked Post Offices, banks and retail outlets, consumers can simply request their bill at the cashier for any of the supported services and be presented outstanding payment, without having a printed bill on hand as the POS machine or bank ATM display the due amount. Consumers can then pay in cash or using their bank cards against the presented bill and receive an immediate receipt that their bill is paid and an SMS confirmation, eliminating the need for frustrating, sometimes costly and time consuming visits to pay for bills at the service provider's sales or customer support centers.
