Chapter Four: Financial Inclusion Activities

In light of the efforts made to consolidate the principle of financial inclusion, and the establishment of a central management unit at the Central Bank of Egypt to facilitate financial inclusion in Egypt, which requires the participation and cooperation of all Egyptian banks in data collection, and in reference to the meeting held with the Deputy Governors on March 19, 2017, at the Central Bank, which discussed the designation of April 27 of each year as "Arab Financial Inclusion Day" by the Council of Central Bank Governors and Islamic Financial Institutions, and discussed the proposals of the Deputy Governors for the Central Bank on expanding the mechanisms that can be implemented on this day and for a period of one week.

And with regard to the activities conducted by the Central Bank of Egypt to celebrate the Arab Financial Inclusion Day throughout the years 2016 and 2017, it was proposed to extend the duration of the Arab Financial Inclusion Day activities for the year 2018 to two weeks starting from April 2.

In the context of the Central Bank of Egypt's commitment to continuing access to the largest number of citizens and targeting all segments of society with the aim of integrating them into the formal financial system, approval was granted on March 5, 2019, to establish four activities over the year, coinciding with global occasions. And given the positive results achieved by the financial inclusion activities, which allow banks to be present at their branches and promote their products under the umbrella of financial inclusion, reaching remote and marginalized areas that are far from central hubs where there is no presence of banking financial institutions, the Central Bank of Egypt decided to increase the number of activities throughout the year, specifically in the month of September coinciding with the state's celebration of Eid al-Fitr, and in the month of December coinciding with the celebration of the International Day for Persons with Disabilities, making the dates of the activities as follows:

Date	Occasion	Activity Period	Coinciding With
March 8 to March 31	Arab Financial Inclusion Day	Coinciding with Women's Empowerment
April 1 to April 30	Arab Financial Inclusion Day	Coinciding with Youth Empowerment
August 1 to September 15	Eid al-Fitr	Coinciding with the Celebration of Eid al-Fitr
October 15 to October 31	International Day for Persons with Disabilities	Coinciding with the Celebration of Persons with Disabilities
December 1 to December 15	International Day for Persons with Disabilities	Coinciding with the International Day for Persons with Disabilities

Below is a statement of the activities planned for the financial inclusion activities:

• Allowing banks to be present at their branches during the mentioned period and displaying relevant banking products, provided that the presence of banking operations units at the Central Bank is indicated at the locations of presence.

• Opening accounts for new customers without fees and without a minimum balance.

• Issuing prepaid cards / credit cards for customers and encouraging them to use and utilize them in purchase transactions.

• Encouraging e-wallet customers to top up their wallets and use them.

• Holding and sponsoring financial literacy activities for all segments.

• Printing the informational brochure related to financial inclusion and distributing it to the public.

• Providing media coverage for the event through social media channels and advertising for the activities via electronic channels for each bank.

• Sending informational SMS messages to customers of telecommunications companies to announce the activities and advertise that banks are opening accounts for new customers without fees.

• Publishing the promotional "Banner" material containing the logo of the Arab Financial Inclusion Day and the Central Bank at bank branches during the period of the Arab Financial Inclusion Day.