According to the US Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration, Egypt has the highest internet penetration rate in the Middle East and North Africa, with more than 50 million users, eight percent out of whom make regular online transactions. With an ever-growing telecommunications infrastructure and a large unbanked/underbanked population, Egypt is ripe for a Fintech boom of its own. Cue valU, the mobile app that could very well render your credit card obsolete and winner of Terrapin’s Seamless Award for MENA Fintech Innovation of 2019, and the 2019 E-Commerce Summit’s Payments Award. Powered by EFG Hermes’s non-bank financial institution (NBFI), valU offers a financially innovative payment system that allows you to shop online and at thousands of retail stores and pay through an installment plan of your choice. Using swipe-to-pay technology, the app allows users to perform transactions at any store in the valU network by swiping their smartphones over a POS (Point of Sale) device. The app also allows users to make transactions at a number of online marketplaces that support the service. valU then generates a payment plan, complete with a timetable, through a built-in calculator and notifies…
