Progress on plans to link up InstaPay with Mideast banks: The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has reached preliminary agreements with the central banks of the UAE and Jordan — and is in advanced talks with the central bank in Saudi Arabia — to allow InstaPay users to transfer money from banks in these countries to Egyptian bank accounts, a source with firsthand knowledge of the matter told Enterprise. The CBE-run digital payment platform is expected to onboard banks in these countries and roll out the remittance services in 1H 2024, our source said, adding that the service will offer low transactions fees. The news was first picked up by Asharq Business.

Remember: It first came to light back in September that the central bank was looking into allowing InstaPay transfers from the three Arab countries.

Some details are yet to be ironed out: The CBE is still studying whether remittances transferred via InstaPay will be credited to Egyptian accounts in local or foreign currency, our source said. The three central banks outside of Egypt will also need to work out new transfer limits with the CBE, according to Asharq’s source. The limits are currently set at EGP 70k per transaction, EGP 120k per day, and EGP 400k per month.

InstaPay is beloved at home: The app currently has over 4 mn users, our source said.That’s at least an 82% increase from the 2.2 mn users that were subscribed back in March. In the 15-month period between its launch and last June, users transferred around EGP 300 bn, of which EGP 250 bn came in the last 6 months, according to a CBE official cited by Amwal Al Ghad.

If you’re wondering what their secret to success is, InstaPay’s decision to have zero transaction fees through the end of 2023 has undoubtedly played a big part in its popularity in the ultra-competitive local fintech market.

All in the name of easing the FX crunch: The move is the latest in a string of measures taken by the government to drum up hard currency in response to the ongoing FX crunch. Other recent initiatives include allowing expats to import cars in return for depositing fees in FX and offering investors generous tax breaks if they use hard currency to fund at least half of the investment cost of industrial projects.

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