Details of the Central Bank’s decision to extend the work on decisions to face “Corona” until June 30

The Board of Directors of the Central Bank decided to extend the validity of some of the decisions taken previously to face the pandemic for a new period of 6 months, from January 1 to June 30, 2021.

The Central Bank said in a statement that this is part of the implementation of the strategy of the National Council for Payments headed by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, and as a continuation of the proactive efforts of the Central Bank of Egypt to face the repercussions of the Corona pandemic, and as part of its quest to revitalize and protect the national economy and preserve the benefits of economic reform and the stability of the banking sector. .

Decisions that were extended for the new period included continuing to exempt clients from all fees and charges for bank transfer services in Egyptian pounds, issuing e-wallets for free, including creating virtual cards (VCN) from the wallet, and cancel all commissions and fees related to transfers between mobile phone accounts and transfers. Between any mobile phone account and any bank account, as well as the issuance of prepaid cards to citizens for free, provided that these cards are “contactless” as soon as the bank begins to issue this type of card, and the cards are canceled. Fees and commissions for cash withdrawals, as long as the issuing bank carries the card. Fees and commissions, not including credit card returns.

Rami Abu Al-Naja, Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, said that the decisions that have been extended are inscribed within the framework of the Central Bank’s will to guarantee the continuity of the banks’ work in light of the continuous monitoring of the banking sector and provide more facilitation to citizens and encourage them to continue adopting electronic means and channels of payment, to support The state orders the central bank to transform itself into a society less dependent on banknotes.

For her part, Amani Shams El Din, Deputy Governor of the Banking Operations and Payment Systems Sector of the Central Bank, explained that the decisions that were extended from January 1 to June 30, 2021 also include “continuing to cancel fees and fees for withdrawals of cash for pension exchange cards, and central bank bears Cash withdrawal expenses for pension exchange cards from ATMs, whose approximate value ranges between 40 million to 60 million pounds during the mentioned period, in addition to the cost incurred in the prior period of approximately £ 90 million.

The decisions that have been extended for the new period also included forcing banks that obtained an electronic acceptance license to cancel all fees and commissions incurred by private sector merchants in transactions that are carried out using contactless payment tools. issued by banks operating in the Arab Republic of Egypt without entering the password, with the commitment of the issuing bank. That the contactless payment tool reimburses the interchange fees to the accepting bank during the mentioned period, in order to incentivize merchants and companies to activate contactless payments that achieve social distancing for the value of small transactions that do not exceed 600 EGP.

The Central Bank of Egypt states that it will continue to closely monitor all developments at the global and local level, to intervene immediately by taking appropriate measures to protect the national economy, stimulate the market, and maintain banking and monetary stability.