CBE increases withdrawal, transfer limits from mobile wallets

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has released new regulations allowing mobile wallet users to borrow, withdraw, and transfer larger sums per day.

Individual users can apply for one-year finance of up to 5000 Egyptian pounds, while informal micro enterprises and self-employed craftsmen can borrow up to 10,000 pounds.

The ceiling for licensed microenterprises is now up to 15,000 pounds as well.

However, these facilities, which could be provided in real time, should be repaid over one year on a predetermined payment schedule. Banks will be able to allow clients to request finance through ATMs, e-wallet applications, or messaging channels such as unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) and interactive voice response (IVR) messaging.

New daily withdrawal + transfer limits: The regulations also raise the daily limits for mobile wallet users’ withdrawals and transfers to 30,000 pounds for individuals and informal micro enterprises or self-employed craftsmen, with the monthly limit set for these users set at 100,000 pounds.

Licensed microenterprises can now withdraw or transfer up to 40,000 pounds per day, or 200,000 pounds per month.

The new regulations come a few days after the CBE granted mobile wallet users access to real-time loan and saving services, while allowing funds to be transferred between mobile wallets and bank accounts.

The CBE also instructed banks to determine potential borrowers’ creditworthiness based on “behavioral evaluations” to ease lending for those who don’t have credit histories or any prior records with the traditional banking system.