Circular dated March 27, 2016 amending the rules for operating mobile payment orders

Cairo: 27 March 2016

To Mr. /
Chairman of the Board of Directors, Bank

With greetings and regards,

With reference to the "Rules for Operating Payment Orders via Mobile Phone in the Arab Republic of Egypt" issued by the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Egypt on February 2, 2010, and in the context of the Central Bank of Egypt's desire to maximize the community's benefit from electronic payment means, especially the mobile phone, in receiving family remittances from abroad quickly and conveniently,

The Central Bank of Egypt has deemed it necessary to amend certain articles of the Rules to allow the receipt of family remittances from abroad via mobile phone.

Please be informed that the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Egypt decided in its meeting held on March 23, 2016, to amend the provisions of the Rules as follows:

1. Item 3/2: Exemption from the remittance from abroad mentioned in Annex No. (2) from the condition of remittance within the Arab Republic of Egypt as follows:

Except as regulated in Annex No. (2) of these instructions, remittance operations within the Arab Republic of Egypt are conducted only in the local currency (Egyptian Pound) only, and the exchange of other currencies or conducting exchange operations for currencies or clearing between customers' accounts with other currencies is not permitted without obtaining the approval of the Central Bank of Egypt, which must include the regulations governing such matters.

2. Establishing a new annex titled Annex No. (2) "Guidelines for Receiving Remittances Incoming from Abroad into the Mobile Phone Account of the Beneficiary from Natural Persons"

System users are allowed to receive remittances from abroad in foreign currencies and add them to their mobile phone account in Egyptian Pounds according to the following guidelines:

1. This service is limited to customers who are natural persons.

2. The customer must have undergone identification procedures in accordance with the Identification Rules issued by the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism Unit for banks in 2011.

3. The bank must comply with what is stated in Item (9/2) of the Customer Identification Rules for Banks issued by the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism Unit in 2011.

4. Special attention must be given to regularly monitoring incoming remittances to customers, and ensuring that there is no suspicion related to money laundering, financing of terrorism, or any crime.

5. The bank determines the maximum limit for remittance from abroad according to risk assessment and the rules established for it, provided that the maximum limit for the account balance mentioned in Item 1/5 does not exceed it.

6. The bank, before executing the remittance, verifies that the parties to the remittance are not included in the local and international lists related to the financing of terrorism and financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and any other lists that the bank deems necessary to refer to.

7. The bank takes appropriate measures to ensure that the remittance concerns the same customer and that the value has been added in Egyptian Pounds to his mobile phone account.

Please be so kind as to alert regarding taking the necessary action in this matter.

Please accept our highest regards,

Lobna El-Haddad