Amazon Payment Services has announced it will waive all fees for new micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) wishing to benefit from its services in Egypt.
The move aligns with the mission of the company, a payment processing service in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, to provide businesses with simple, affordable, and trusted online payment experiences.
Supporting an initiative launched by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) to encourage the transition to digital payments in Egypt, Amazon Payment Services will waive all account setup and maintenance fees for MSMEs for its digital payment service.
The move will last throughout the month of Ramadan until the end of June 2021. Amazon Payment Services implemented the policy in tandem with its partner banks in Egypt, the Commercial International Bank (CIB) and Banque Misr, as well as Robusta and zVendo.
Commenting on the initiative, Omar Soudodi, Managing Director of Amazon Payment Services, said, “We are pleased to be supporting the CBE’s drive to help Egyptian businesses digitise and scale online.”
“At a time when many small businesses are facing unprecedented challenges in the face of restrictions and social distancing measures brought on by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the importance of building their online presence has never been greater,” he said, “Enabling seamless, reliable and affordable digital transactions for MSMEs will help them to boost their revenue streams.”
The initiative is part of the CBE’s continued efforts to support the economy during the ongoing pandemic.
Ihab Dorra, Head of Retail and Branches at Banque Misr, said, “Our ongoing digitalisation initiatives have demonstrated huge success recently, as we achieved the highest growth rate in e-commerce and QR code transactions in Egypt during 2020.”
He added, “Our strategy includes a focus on fintech and we are looking forward to utilising our partnership with Amazon Payment Services to make facilitating payments even easier and will be offering our merchants some attractive benefits such as no setup fees or monthly fees, and exclusive rates for card and wallet payment.”
