This is part of CBE’s efforts to implement the strategy by the National Payments Council, headed by President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi
The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has announced new instructions to banks working in the local sector for speeding up local currency transfers, which were decided upon at the board session that took place on 27 December 2020.
This is part of CBE’s efforts to implement the strategy by the National Payments Council, headed by President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi. It also continues their work in strengthening the infrastructure of payment systems and developing payment services in Egypt.
The instructions requires intrabank transfers to be implemented within a maximum of two hours from the time of request, applying to transfer requests made either during working hours of banks, or at any time through electronic channels.
Interbank transfers will have to be completed within three hours of receiving the customer’s request.
Transfer requests received by banks after 2PM should be executed within a maximum of three hours from the start of the next working day.
Requests and operations requiring credit approvals are excluded from the mentioned timings, which also includes suspicious operations that could be considered as money laundering, terrorist financing, and any other risks that a bank may find suspect.
These instructions come as part of the continuous efforts to develop Egypt’s banking sector, and increase the level of competitiveness at Egyptian banks, aiming to provide the highest level of customer service, and the speedy completion of financial transactions in the shortest possible time.
It also hopes to encourage customers to take advantage of benefits provided by electronic financial transactions and technological infrastructure. CBE has also cancelled commissions on bank transfers for all customers until the end of June 2021.
Customers must receive confirmation that the transfer has taken place through any means by the bank. The instructions emphasized the importance of disclosure of commissions and expenses related to the remittance service by all possible means.
This is in accordance with previous statements and announcements in regards to CBE and the banking system’s law, and with special instructions to protect the rights of bank customers.
The directives also included activating the use of the international bank account number, IBAN. It comes as a prelude to obliging its use for transfers at banks at a later stage, with the need to finalize notifying clients of their international bank account numbers as soon as possible.
