NBE Disbursed EGP 183 Mln Yellow Remittances

The National Bank of Egypt (NBE), the bank in the country with the major market share in the nation’s banking sector, is pleased to be participating in the process of transferring outstanding remittances from Iraq — known as ‘yellow remittances’ in Arabic — which is seeing Egyptians receive payment for work performed more than 20 years ago.

The remittances process follows an agreement reached earlier this month between the governments of Egypt and Iraq to settle debts owed to Egyptian workers who fled Iraq in 1991 after the start of the First Gulf War.

These payments have been frozen since 1991, but the process to begin their immediate transfer to beneficiaries has now begun in cooperation with a number of national banks and institutions. NBE has played a pivotal role in this process.

In only eight days, and until April 5th, 2012 NBE processed 49,151 remittances representing almost EGP 183 million. NBE branches and outlets throughout Egypt — including the Nile Delta, Upper Egypt, Cairo, Alexandria and the Suez Canal region — processed the remittances during normal business hours and without disruptions to normal bank business.

“Our experienced, dedicated team, extensive branch network and cutting-edge technological systems have ensured the smooth running of this entire project,” said Hazem Hegazy, Group Head of Branches and Retail products, at NBE. “We are particularly pleased to be able to have implemented an effective system of processing payments that is secure, fast and reliable.”

The time that has lapsed since the debts were incurred has led to some confusion on the part of beneficiaries —particularly in cases where the original beneficiary is now deceased, and the beneficiaries heirs are uncertain how to collect the money owed them. To ease customers’ concerns, answer questions and facilitate the process overall, representatives from NBE, including a dedicated team of legal experts at specific branches, have met regularly with customers to answer questions and help resolve any difficulties that have arisen.

“This endeavor is just the latest in a number of national projects in which NBE has participated that benefit the Egyptian public,” commented Hegazi.”Recent projects of this nature have included the payment of electricity bills via the internet and online payment of taxes and customs fees. We look forward to continuing with our program of enhancing our products and services to the benefit of all Egyptians.”

Press Release