Mounir El Zahid, the chairperson of Banque du Caire, said that his bank is working to ensure the success of financial inclusion and directing Egyptians towards banking. He noted that that this can happen through making it easier to provide individuals with legal financial services as well as providing different segments of society a chance to manage their finances and savings safely and securely in order to ensure that citizens do not resort to informal means. El Zahid stressed that his bank is also keen to expand geographically to strengthen its presence near the growing base of its customers and facilitate the procedures of their obtainment of banking services. Banque du Caire was established in 1952 and is considered one of the largest banks in Egypt, ranking third in terms of business volume and number of branches and clients. The bank services more than 3.8 million clients across the country through a network of branches and banking units estimated at 237, in addition to nearly 625 ATMs. He added that the bank is seeking to improve the services it provides to its customers as well as open new branches, increase the number of ATMs, obtain a distinct share of the market, and launch new products that meet the current and future needs of clients. El Zahid noted that 2017 has witnessed the opening of new branches in Minya, Assiut, and Sohag. The bank plans to open new branches soon in Kafr El Sheikh, Daqahleya, Greater Cairo, Luxor, and other governorates, due to the bank's keenness to reach all segments of society. "Banque du Caire has taken part in the initiative of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) for financial inclusion in order to provide an account for every citizen," El Zahid said. He added that throughout this week, his bank introduced a number of offers to attract a new segment of customers to support the concept of financial inclusion. For her part, Soha Soliman, deputy chairperson of Banque du Caire, has stressed the important of spreading the culture of financial awareness with the goal of achieving financial inclusion and expanding the base of customers in the bank, as well as integrating a large part of the informal economy into the formal one. Soliman noted that the bank gives special attention to microfinance and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), in which it has great experience. These projects play a major role in improving the market with the growing need to create more jobs, added Soliman. The bank is keen on taking a distinct position among competing banks in Egypt. It is also keen on becoming the engine of SMEs, according to Soliman. She added that the bank is taking part in the national project for community and human local development "Mashrouak" (Your Project), which aims to create community development in all governorates and villages of Egypt, in addition to remote areas. Soliman noted that this project targets different segments of the society, especially young people, and supports women, with the aim of improving the standards of living for all individuals of the society. According to Soliman, the number of beneficiaries of the microfinance loans offered by the bank is 415,000 clients, noting that women who support their families receive 24% of these loans. He added that the bank is keen on applying financial inclusion through its participation in the initiative of real estate finance, which was launched by the CBE to finance the housing of families with low and medium income, as well as give a larger segment of citizens the chance to benefit from the reduced interest rate and the support offered by the bank and the Mortgage Finance Fund.
