Mobile wallets in Egypt increased by 27% year-on-year to 25 million in 2021, with 227 million transactions, almost double the volume of transactions in 2020, according to the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA). The total transactions conducted by mobile wallets surged by 160% y-o-y to EGP 233bn. Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) launched a new platform to manage mobile wallets electronically. Through this platform, users can make queries about any mobile wallets registered with their cell numbers as well as unsubscribe from the wallet for free without having to visit the branch of the service provider. The Egyptian government aims to achieve financial inclusion and shift towards a digital society that is less dependent on cash. In this mandate, companies and legal persons are obligated to register their sales and purchases on a state-run electronic invoice system. Every taxpayer is obligated to issue an invoice or receipt in electronic form. The e-invoice system launched its first mandatory phase in mid-November 2020, extending its umbrella to 134 companies. The second phase was implemented on 15 February 2021, covering 347 companies. The third phase began on 15 May and included the rest of the companies registered at the Large Taxpayer Center. There are 31,000 companies registered on the e-invoice platform for B2B transactions. The volume of e-invoices processed daily is currently around 650,000 and is expected to rise to 1 million by March 2022. On the other hand, the Egyptian electronic payment cards "Meeza" will replace all government payroll cards by the end of January 2022, with around 4.3 million public sector workers receiving their salaries via Meeza this month.
