4 of the top FinTechs in Egypt that are flourishing in the financial sector

By Edlyn Cardoza

There is so much evolution taking place around the world almost in every sector, this evolution has not left the financial sector behind its moving along with it, and that is why we are seeing so many financial technology companies coming up, evolving day by day we, therefore, call this financial evolution. 

Due to the Egyptian startup ecosystem growing, there have been fundamental developments that have led to the growth space reviving. This has also led to the growth of FinTech startups in Egypt. Recent reports indicate that FinTech is one of the fastest-growing sectors in Egypt. 

Much of this is accredited to a batch of policy level shifts. For example, last year, a new Egyptian Central Bank Law was put in place. The law, for the first time, addressed the regulation of a number of FinTech sectors, which included digital banks, cryptocurrency, and cashless payments. 

On the funding side, in the overall startup space of Egypt, Q1 2021 received US US$22 million. This was twice the amount raised by 34 startups in the last quarter. VC firm Sawari Ventures itself raised US$71 million for a tech-focused fund in Egypt in April this year. Foreign investors are also showing special interest in FinTech startups in Egypt.

So, which are 4 of the top FinTech startups in Egypt?

Fawry: Fawry is Egypt’s chief digital transformation and E-payments platform giving financial support services to people involved in businesses. Fawry offers an appropriate and dependable way to clear bills and other financial transaction services through multiple channels, including online, ATMs, mobile wallets, and retail points.

Their location points are usually groceries, pharmacies, stationeries, and post offices; they have about 194,000 locations and carry out about 3 million transactions per day. They offer services to businesses include collection services, customer acquisition, electronic cash, payment facilitation, and B2B collection centres.

MoneyFellows: MoneyFellows, a 2018 company, is one of the most convenient and trusted money hubs provides a huge range of money options for every user to look out for where to choose from. This is possible because they have several payments like; Debit/credit cards, Fawry / Fawry plus, digital wallets, direct debit, and cash, while payout methods include digital wallet, bank transfer, and Fawry plus.

It is similar to a savings cooperative, where users pay into the traditional money circle of an app, and for big purchases the proceeds are then distributed to the members. Customers with good payment returns/authority have higher chances of being given more credit as long as you are part of their trusted money circles. 

So far, the company has 1.5 million users. Last year, the company also raised US$4 million in Series A. This year, including that it has received a total of US$11 million. MoneyFellow took a step forward to provide its users with disbursement and collection products by signing an MoU with Banque Misr. MoneyFellow is also planning to add features like Buy Now, Pay Later to its platform while also looking to expand much more in Africa. 

Paymob: Paymob offers financial solutions to empower businesses and other financial service providers in both Middle East and Africa. Paymob also has its presence in five other markets of Pakistan, Kenya, and Palestine. 

Paymob, an SME digital payments provider founded in 2015, in the second tranche of a Series A, secured US$15 million this year. This funding tops its first tranche last year, where it secured US$3.5. Paymob aims to help people get access to finances. Paymob has partnered with several banks, telecom companies, and many other financial institutions. 

Over the years, Paymob has achieved tremendous things, and currently, it has over 12 million users, 150000 agents, over ten bank deployments, and carries over 120 million transactions. They offer many services like online payments, POS solutions, payment links, subscriptions, instalments, marketplace, payouts, paymob sync, and digital wallet. 

Yomken: Yomken is a solution based financial technology and is one of the most innovative financial technology companies that came up to address and boost up the comparative advantage of small and low technology businesses that are thriving in the competitive world; they did this with hopes of helping the youth find employment and reduce poverty levels too. 

Their aim is to influence the wisdom of the crowd and provide a boost to small and micro enterprises (MSEs) working in informal manufacturing, and low-tech. Their website connects them with researchers, students, engineers and other knowledge and skill-based sources in order to help them interpret the various challenges that they face. 

Currently, Yomken offers two main services: an open innovation platform and a marketplace; however, there is another package of services: innovation management and policy and capacity building services. 

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