Instapay’s year-old 0.1% transaction fee hasn’t turned away customers as some had feared — but it has made the venture profitable, a senior official from the Central Bank of Egypt tells EnterpriseAM. As usage and familiarity continue to grow, the central bank-launched payment service has cemented its role as the primary bridge between formal bank accounts and the growing e-wallet ecosystem.

“Transfer fees exist everywhere; they are standard service fees,” former Industrial Development Bank chairman Maged Fahmy tells us. While the relatively small 0.1% charge with a minimum EGP 0.50 and a maximum EGP 20 fee will have a minimal impact, consumers are more likely to be influenced by rising inflation and the current EGP 70k transaction limit in their usage of the app, he added. NBK Corporate Finance Assistant Deputy CEO Mohamed Abdel Moneim similarly said that the fee may shift usage to focus on more necessary transactions, but the app’s market position remains dominant.

Instapay has also become the bridge between bank accounts and mobile network operator-run e-wallets, representing some 65% of incoming funds.

The thing that attracts users to Instapay isn’t the cost, it’s the ability to switch between multi-bank sources in one place — something individual bank apps can’t replicate — as well as being a trusted application, Fahmy argued.

But “while Instapay remains the primary choice for large transfers between bank accounts, it is no longer the sole market leader,” Alraya Consulting and Training Managing Partner Hany Abou El Fotouh tells us. There is competition in the market and space for other companies to present other apps that suit different use cases better.

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