The COVID-19 pandemic created the need for an innovative digital payment market in Egypt. The digital payment market is also booming due to the Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) financial inclusion regulations and the country’s vision of relying less on cash. When it comes to the number of FinTech companies on the continent, Egypt is one of the top 4 most active African nations in the sector. FinTech has gone from having only 2 firms in 2014 to 112 Egyptian FinTech startups, as stated in the Egypt FinTech Landscape Report.

So, Arab Finance has interviewed Mohamed Mohsen, co-founder of Kashier Payment Solutions, a FinTech startup that was founded in 2018. He walked us through the journey of founding the company and discussed the digital payment services provided by his company.

  • Kashier is an all-in-one payment acceptance and business management platform. What is the story behind creating Kashier?

I believe in "engineering serendipity": that the most exciting opportunities in life come from seemingly random encounters. Mohamed Hossam, Co-Founder of Kashier, and I, despite the age difference, found common ground with our passion for technology and partnered to start an information security services company almost a decade ago that empowers change. Then, in 2017, we both met Khaled Raslan, and the 3 of us started Kashier, which was officially founded in 2018.

We saw that the business sectors in Egypt were underserved when it came to financial services, and there was a gap between those services and their intended customers.

So, we decided to build Kashier as a world-class digital financial services company to fill that gap and deliver value to all businesses in Egypt. We are building the financial infrastructure of the future, focused on product innovation and customer-centric service.

  • You enable your customers to accept all types of payments. Can you explain to our readers how the payment system works?

Online payment systems enable businesses and individuals to make electronic transactions over the internet. The process involves the customer, business, and payment processor, with the payment processor securely transferring funds from the customer's account to the business's account. Banks provide the infrastructure for secure online payments and manage the funds transferred during online transactions. Payment processors specialize in processing and facilitating online payments and offer additional services such as fraud protection and chargeback management. By working with banks and payment processors, business owners can access new online payment acceptance technologies and expand their reach to customers worldwide.

  • What are the services that differentiate Kashier from other online payment providers?

I believe our edge is our commitment to humanizing the process. We are a company that is built on a very solid mission: to enable growth, and to do that, you have to have a diverse portfolio of products and services, but more importantly, you need to provide a superior experience to the merchants; after all, you are managing their money. This is what differentiates Kashier. Our healthy and sustainable growth is definitely attributed to how we view the entire journey, from onboarding to revenue and financial management to customizing our platform with inclusive and diverse technology, covering a wide range of industries.

  • How do you protect customers’ data and enhance the quality of your cyber security?

Kashier's platform was built with security at its core. We are asking our customers to trust us with their money, so it is a foundation of our existence that we deliver the highest security possible. This is an ongoing journey, and we are consciously expanding our security certification to comply with sector-specific requirements.

Kashier is fully payment card industry data security standard (PCI DSS) compliant as a Level 1 Service Provider, which is the key security standard within the payments industry, ensuring that sensitive data is always secure.

We also enjoy advanced fraud detection and prevention tools to protect our customers, and along with tokenization services, we also partner with leading acquirers to ensure payment process security.

  • As we like to talk in numbers, when did Kahier start achieving profit in Egypt? And what was your last year’s growth rate?

Kashier enjoyed a strong 2022, showing healthy growth across its all main metrics. The number of active merchants and overall revenue throughput grew in the high double digits. This was also reflected in solid growth across our digital platforms and merchant engagements. Kashier is still very much at the beginning of its growth phase, and we are very excited about the future of payments in Egypt and the region.

  • Who is your target audience? And how can your Egyptian customers extend their transactions globally?

Egypt has a very ambitious and strong private sector ecosystem. When we look at our target audience, we look at any business that is after growth through digitization. Looking at small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) alone, there are more than 3 million businesses in Egypt across the governorates that are looking for means to expand, and payments play a very important role within them.

Taking retail as an example, it is a $200 billion sector with a 10% projected compound annual growth rate, with e-payments growing at 49% year over year. There is a chance for Kashier to assist in this expansion and extend our services to include in-person and in-store payments.

Our partnership ecosystem continues to be the fuel that drives our engine for expansion. Our merchants are looking at regional and global exports, and we believe that this is where the power of our strengthened partnerships comes in. We have a very strong relationship with the banking industry in Egypt and continue to work hand in hand with the central bank to ensure that the private sector is supported through access to digitization.

  • Are you going to add mobile Visa and Tahweel mobile money to your payment services? How will this affect your customer?

At Kashier, we are always seeking new ways to serve our customers. Our product and service roadmap for digital payments goes beyond card and wallet acceptance and includes new innovations that will only add value to our customers and allow them to expand their businesses. Kashier's platform is integrated with VISA and MasterCard, as well as Meeza on the local front; integrating with new payment networks is always an option, as long as it adds value to the merchant.

  • How do the CBE’s financial inclusion goals affect your business? And how is this in line with your vision and plans?

I am a strong believer in the government of Egypt and the CBE’s vision for financial inclusion. The proactive actions that have been taken since 2018 have created the conditions for Egypt's private sector to flourish and laid the groundwork for a faster-than-expected digital transformation. Kashier's strategic goals are in line with those of the CBE because improving the financial standing of SMEs is at the top of our priorities. We are on the same journey, with a common vision to bridge the gap between people and financial services through technology.

  • What are your expansion plans for the upcoming two years?

We are seeking to expand beyond the Egyptian market to include Africa and the Middle East, but these expansion strategies are expansive and need to be carried out based on clear and solid go-to-market strategies that deliver value and fill out a clear gap in the market.

  • In your opinion, how do you evaluate the emerging digital economy in Egypt?

The disruption caused by the Fourth Industrial Revolution has been accelerated by COVID-19 and has increased our need for agility, adaptability, and positive transformation. As the global economy rapidly digitalizes, an estimated 70% of the new value created over the next decade will be based on digitally enabled platform business models. In the case of Egypt, this growth is occurring at an unprecedented exponential rate. We have a large and relatively young population and exceptional connectivity, which is a huge asset for becoming a regional digital hub. The public and private sectors are working together to navigate disruption and transition to a new normal—a post-pandemic, purpose-driven, sustainable, and inclusive future.

 

Copyright © 2022 Arab Finance Brokerage Company All rights reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).