Opay plans to apply for digital bank license in Egypt

The fintech firm Opay is intending to apply for a license to establish a digital bank in Egypt with a capital of $60 million, according to an emailed press release on July 30th.

The step is part of OPay's commitment to playing a role in expanding Egypt's digital economy, supporting digital transformation plan, and advancing the principles of financial inclusion.

“We achieved great successes last year, as the value of our sales in the region amounted to more than $50 billion, while the number of users of the OPay application in all countries reached about 30 million users, and we aspire to exceed these numbers in the current year and achieve unprecedented record rates,” Director of Business Development and Partnership at OPay Mahmoud Khedr commented.

On July 12th, the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) introduced new rules for licensing and registering digital banks.

The licensing requirements for digital banks include that their issued and paid-up capital should not be less than EGP 2 billion in the case of practicing all banking businesses, except for financing major companies.