Cairo – Mubasher: Egypt’s digital payments platform axis has teamed up with Visa to launch its services through axisPay mobile wallet, which will support small businesses in the country.
The company obtained the licence from the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) for its open-loop mobile wallet to provide emerging enterprises and their employees with a digital banking alternative, according to a press release.
Up to 8 million micro and small businesses will benefit from digitising the payroll to send salaries to 20 million employees and contractors instantly onto axisPay. This includes salaries and reimburse expenses, besides offering ‘earned wage advances’ to the employees.
Small businesses will also be able to instantly pay their suppliers on any mobile wallet in Egypt.
As for the employees, they will have access to different financial services, including sending and requesting money from any mobile wallet in Egypt, paying bills, shopping online with a virtual Visa card, or scanning QR codes to pay in person.
Founder and CEO of axis, Jacques Marco, said: “Small businesses are the backbone of the Egyptian economy, contributing to 80% of Egypt’s GDP. However, over 50% of these still don’t have access to banking services, and are therefore heavily cash based, which impacts their ability to effectively manage and grow their business.”
Marco added: “axis wants to contribute to the government’s financial inclusion strategy by providing small businesses with a digital banking alternative to manage and grow their business.”
Hany El-Sonbaty, Managing Partner at Sawari Ventures, one of the investors in axis, said: “We strongly believe in axis’ ability to drive financial inclusion & fuel economic growth. The team is made of experienced fintech experts who are building a world-class digital payments platform for small businesses.”
Meanwhile, Malak El-Baba, Country Manager for Egypt at Visa, said: “We’re enabling the movement of money for everyone, everywhere. Our partnership with axis will allow customers to instantly access electronic payments, significantly improving the customer experience, while leveraging Visa’s secure global payments infrastructure and advanced fraud prevention capabilities.”
