President of the Agricultural Bank of Egypt (ABE) Alaa Farouk recently revealed that the bank aims to open four new digital branches in cooperation with e-finance before the end of the year, bringing the number of electronic branches of the bank to six. Previously, the bank opened two centres, the first in its main centre in Dokki and the second in its headquarters in Tahrir. Farouk indicated that the significant expansion of digital services requires continuous support and modernisation of the bank's technological infrastructure in an effort to accommodate this development, which is what makes the bank implement an ambitious strategy to develop the technological infrastructure to keep pace with the progress witnessed in banking application technology. He emphasised that the bank is moving at an accelerated pace to implement its plan for digital transformation, the digitisation of all its services, and to achieve the national goals of financial inclusion by publishing electronic payment and collection systems in the agricultural sector and the Egyptian countryside, in addition to launching a set of digital products and smart applications that meet the needs of its customers to use digital banking services and find alternative payment channels. Farouk also revealed a set of electronic applications and digital services launched by the bank that will be launched soon, such as electronic service centres, the electronic Agri Wallet, the Agricultural Platform, and the Electronic Loan System for Companies. Additionally, ABE launched the Tahwesha savings application in cooperation with the National Council for Women to empower women in the countryside and the Electronic Farmer application to help farmers and farm owners to obtain a loan for their crops, in addition to an electronic circle application with Dayra Digital Solutions, along with other applications that meet the needs of the bank's customers to use digital banking services and find alternative payment channels. ABE is also working on facilitating the acquisition of the necessary financing for projects and economic activities, especially in the agricultural sector, in a way that contributes to accelerating the pace of granting agricultural loans in all their forms in order to enhance the capabilities of farmers and increase agricultural production. Farouk emphasised that the bank has prioritised an ambitious strategy for digital transformation to keep pace with the great development in the banking sector and the directives of the Central Bank of Egypt and in an effort to enhance the principle of financial inclusion and attract more groups that do not deal with the banking system, the most important of which are youths. Furthermore, the Bank recently opened a project to develop and modernise the data centre in the main centre so that the bank has an integrated technology system in accordance with the latest international specifications that meets its operational needs and meets the needs of its customers, ensuring its ability to expand services, digital products, and updates. The bank also provides electronic financing services through the Agri Misr platform in cooperation with e-aswaq, which is considered the first electronic platform for the agricultural sector, as the ABE is considered the first bank in Egypt to provide its customers with the service of obtaining agricultural loans for crops electronically and completely.
