Mobile phones are next generation’s tool for electronic payment in Egypt: VISA

Mobile phones are crucial to Visa’s Egypt strategy and their use in making payments is a pillar of Visa’s holistic financial strategy, according to Tariq El-Husseini, North and West Africa Visa General Manager.

El-Husseini said that the financial usage of mobile phones in Egypt has so far been limited to transferring funds from one person to another, rather than for purchases or trade.

Using mobile phones to make payments requires an infrastructure that is not currently present in Egypt, as consumers need to be convinced of the credibility of this new tool, El-Husseini said.

El-Husseini added e-commerce is currently characterised by mobile phone payments as a result of steady growth in Internet usage among Egyptians over the past three years.

He also said that mobile payment rates are modest even in the most advanced societies and developed markets. The field has greater opportunity for growth in Egypt due to its relatively young society that is more receptive to this type of technology than others, with 15% of mobile phone users in Egypt using smart phones.