We have come a long way in developing IDB's technological infrastructure: Fahmy

Bank is moving to open branches, plans to launch a number of e-banking services in next few months

Chairperson of the Industrial Development Bank (IDB), Maged Fahmy, said that the bank's management under his leadership is doing its best to help the country achieve financial inclusion and shift toward electronic payments and a cashless society.
The bank has come a long way in developing its technological structure and is pursuing a strong expansion policy that enables it to reach customers everywhere, Fahmy explained.
According to Fahmy, EGP 500m has been allocated for the development of the bank's technological infrastructure, while EGP 220m has already been spent on 64 development projects.
“We worked hard on this file, as we were facing a real disaster in terms of the technological infrastructure of the bank. We, however, have come a long way in the development process; so much so that we have been awarded by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) as the top technological infrastructure developer among banks,” Fahmy said.
The technology development process included updating all the bank's servers and transferring them to a safe place. The corpbanking systems have also been updated in cooperation with a European-Jordanian company. And since assuming office, we have bought all the applications and software needed for modern technological products, Fahmy added.
In terms of geographical expansion, Fahmy said the bank currently has 20 branches and plans to open six new branches before the end of this year to bring up its network to 26 branches, and then up to 50 branches by 2023. The bank intends to increase the number of branches in Cairo, and establish branches in Minya, Alexandria, Ismailia, Suez, Beni Suef, Sadat City, and Borg El Arab.
According to Fahmy, the bank is moving to open electronic branches, after updating its technology structure, and it plans to open two of these branches soon.
The bank also intends to launch a number of e-banking services in the next few months, Fahmy said. Among these services are the ‘Mobile Wallet', Internet banking, and youth-specific products currently being studied, besides issuing Meeza cards for government payments and a bunch of other e-payment cards.
In addition, Fahmy stressed that financial inclusion would not only be achieved by banks, but must be supported by the state and the unity of all its agencies in achieving this goal.
The state has already acted in this direction, beginning with the launch of the Meeza card to pay government transactions electronically, said Fahmy, who expects the country to achieve good results in this field in the coming period.