General Circulars

1 First: Digital Payments:

In the context of the state's trend toward computerizing all types of payments and relying on local payment networks, and in light of the issuance of Law No. 88 of 2017 establishing the National Payments Council, which aims to support and promote deposit and electronic transactions and develop and supervise digital payments.

And in order to achieve the objectives of efficiency and effectiveness, in addition to protecting the rights of depositors and payment users, the Central Bank of Egypt has issued payment rules and regulations.

(EG-ACH) In the same context and under the provisions of the rules for protecting payment users, the Central Bank of Egypt has prohibited banks from charging fees on incoming transfers exceeding the amount specified in the relevant national "Misr Cards Company" rules, which is two thousand Egyptian pounds.

And in order to support the financial inclusion of citizens in accordance with the state's policy and strategy, banks are required to implement any fees for payment transfers issued by the Central Bank of Egypt without charging the Misr Cards Company fee mentioned above.

Second: Local Transfers:

In light of the periodic monitoring of bank transactions, it was observed that local transfers in some banks were delayed for several days without justification, which leads to the suspension of customer transactions and the execution of financial transactions through bank transfers and reliance on cash transactions. Therefore, banks are required to upgrade their infrastructure and transfer departments to ensure the execution of customer requests on the same day, thereby gaining trust and encouraging the reduction of circulating cash.

And in light of the efforts undertaken to enhance financial inclusion, particularly in developing the payment infrastructure to enhance the efficiency of banking transactions and make them available in accordance with a strategy and to execute financial transactions promptly, and by bank transfers that aim to be executed within the shortest possible time, as they represent the basis.

1. Central Bank letter dated December 5, 2019
2. Central Bank letter dated June 21, 2020
3. The Board of Directors meeting held on December 27, 2020 has issued the following:

First: Banks must comply with the following when providing transfer services to their customers:

1. Regarding customer information for transfers to accounts opened through branches or one of the electronic channels, this information must be executed within the shortest time and in accordance with the timing of receiving the customer's request and the date of execution of the transaction or its completion.

2. Regarding transfer information to accounts of another bank opened through a branch or one of the electronic channels, it shall be executed as follows:

a. For the transferring bank:

• Customer requests and branch timings or electronic channels must be available around the clock.
• The transfer order must be sent to the beneficiary bank and executed within the shortest time and in accordance with the timing of receiving the customer's request.
• For information received by banks after the second working day, the transfer order must be sent to the beneficiary bank within the shortest time possible, no later than the end of the next working day.

b. For the beneficiary bank: In addition to the beneficiary account, the date of execution of the transaction or its completion must be added to the transfer request and within the shortest time from the time the bank receives the transfer order.

Exceptions to the aforementioned timings apply to any operations requiring regulatory approvals or any conditions imposed by banks in operations involving money laundering or terrorist financing in accordance with the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Law issued to the Central Bank of Egypt in 2008 and its amendments, as well as any other delays deemed necessary by the Bank.

In this regard, the number of daily settlement windows (Same day settlement windows) for the relevant electronic clearing (Automated House Clearing) of Misr Cards Company for Technological Services has been increased from two windows to four windows per day starting from March 1, 2021.

3. The abolition of fees collected by the beneficiary bank on incoming accounts.

4. The issuance of a circular to all banks in accordance with the forms approved by the Bank and attached to this circular.

5. Activation of Straight-Through Processing (STP) in outgoing and incoming transfers.

6. With respect to the above, banks are granted a grace period of three months for banks numbered 2, and six months for banks numbered 5.

Second: When implementing what is mentioned, the following must be observed:

1. Activation of reliance on the International Bank Account Number (IBAN) as a mandatory requirement for banks to implement all transfers at the stage of:

• Requiring the provision of the customer's IBAN for international banking accounts opened in four hours.
• The responsibility of the transferring bank to validate the IBAN (validation) before executing any transactions.
• The transferring bank must verify the beneficiary's data validity before executing transactions in accordance with standard verification procedures and international administrative procedures in this circular.

2. Disclosure of fees and expenses related to providing transfer services to all possible channels (such as: in customer accounts, bank branches or their electronic counterparts, or in various advertising media, or in relevant correspondence and circulars issued to customers), in accordance with what is stated in this circular and Law No. 88 of January 194 of 2020 issued by the Central Bank of Egypt and the Monetary and Banking Law and instructions related to the rights of bank customers. In this regard, it is required to inform customers of these fees and commissions in a clear manner, specifically for transfers made through branches or electronic channels.

3. The cost of the banking tariff collected from customers at electronic payment service providers must not exceed the cost of outgoing transfers provided through branches.

4. The cost of transfers executed through electronic clearing networks (ACH) (as a local network) must not exceed the cost of those executed through global networks.

5. Compliance with the condition that the electronic clearing network (Automated House Clearing) does not execute transfers in Egyptian pounds without the customer's consent, which reinforces the execution of the transfer, through any of the channels available to the bank.

Third: Point of Sale (POS) Points:

In light of what is observed in some commercial establishments of operations that are not within the scope of Point of Sale (POS) points available to them, where credit cards used are in local currency from banks within the Arab Republic of Egypt.

5 It is required to note:

1. Requiring the modification of the software installed on Point of Sale (POS) devices or the associated hardware to allow transactions in local currency within the Arab Republic of Egypt through regulatory channels or payment channels or payment methods issued by the Central Bank of Egypt for local currency, while allowing transactions in foreign currency or Egyptian pounds through payment channels issued by the Central Bank of Egypt.

2. Banks are granted a grace period from the date of these instructions to modify the software installed on Point of Sale (POS) devices or the associated hardware.