It has now set up a digital bank, MDI, which is expected to transform the banking experience in the country:
Egypt’s Banque Misr is a bank co-founded by an industrialist and an economist way back in 1920. It got nationalized in 1960 and is today one of the top banks in the region with branches in all the governorates of the country.
The bank has undertaken projects to digitize its operations and offer digital services especially to its corporate clients ensuring fast, easy, smooth and secure delivery of services. It also has a broader aim of taking Egypt’s economy to newer levels and believes that the technology is the sole crucial factor in doing this.
CONSOLIDATED PAYMENTS SERVICE
The bank today has a consolidated payments service that is in line with the Egyptian Government’s objective of achieving financial inclusion and conforming to the policies of the National Payments Council, which aims at securing financial stability through preserving safety and efficiency in payment systems and making available convenient payment services for the customers. The service gives corporate clients access to money transfers up to 100,000 beneficiaries in a single transaction. Transfers are open to all bank accounts or prepaid bank cards inside Egypt, in addition to the possibility of wire transfers through the national ID numbers of the beneficiaries.
The bank’s electronic payment services system is also capable of settling governmental payments like income tax, VAT, replenishing customs accounts, customs declaration etc. The internet banking services allow corporates to follow up on transactions, request cheque books, hold checks, link deposits and such other services. It has also introduced a new mobile app for internet banking customers providing a better customer experience with a flexible interface. In addition, the Misr-Express offers a wide range of online services like SME loans and SME Murabaha.
KEY TIE-UP WITH MASTERCARD
Banque Misr has recently concluded a long-term partnership with Mastercard under which the bank will get the latest digital payment technology to provide new products, services and innovative solutions to customers from all segments. Mastercard will also provide support to the bank’s digital solutions with advanced and competitive technologies.
One of the key provisions of the collaboration is to refine and improve the facilities provided by the bank through its Advisors Client Services Hub. Mastercard will help refine the bank’s offerings in the advisory realm and optimize customer engagement. The bank expects that the partnership will help it to increase the volume of consumer transactions and accelerate the shift towards a cashless system.
The bank’s Chairman Mohamed El Etreby said the partnership is aimed at supporting digital transformation and the financial technology pillars in the bank, which focuses on connecting unbanked segments of society to convenient financial solutions. “In turn, we work on curating partnerships that enhance our financial and non-financial services tailored specifically to them and delivered through our wide branch network across Egypt,” he added.
WORKING FOR EGYPT VISION 2030
The bank had earlier concluded a digital transformation partnership with SAP, which is mainly aimed at accomplishing ‘Egypt Vision 2030’, which is largely focused on , building a knowledge-based digital economy in the country. The focus areas of the partnership are business continuity and employee engagement. The partnership came into effect during post-covid period.
The bank has implemented a strategic cloud program based on SAP SuccessFactors. It has specifically gone live on SuccessFactors’ modules on Performance and Goals. Today, it has full and real-time visibility on talent and employee performance of more than 20,000 employees across 800 branches.
MDI, THE DIGITAL BANK
Banque Misr has set up Misr Digital Innovation, or MDI, which is Egypt’s first fully digital bank. It is now readying for a formal launch. The key aim of MDI is to give Egyptians instant access to their finances and improved customer experience. Conceived in 2020, the new digital bank aims to provide banking solutions, access to the digital economy and drive financial inclusion within the Egyptian community. The bank has collaborated with Atos and Dell for the formation of MDI. The broad aim of the collaboration is to digitally transform the bank and help Egypt create a ‘Smart Economy’, which is one of the objectives of Vision 2030. MDI also derives support from Mastercard, especially in providing debit and credit cards.
The role of Atos in creating the digital bank is crucial. It is endeavouring to deliver a new digital banking experience to customers, supporting the aim of appealing to a broad demographic. In this effort, the firm will make use of the best-of-breed technologies from a variety of leading vendors and help combine digital customer channels, support systems, enterprise integration and data handling.
Banque Misr is now in the process of transforming from a traditional bank to a bank that leads digital transformation in the Egyptian banking sector. It strongly believes that the digital transformation will contribute to improving banking and financial services in the country, especially the customer experience.
mohan@bankingfrontiers.com
This article has been compiled based on publicly available information on the web, particularly the bank’s own website.
