Ahmed El-Abd, Chief Commercial Officer at Orange Egypt
In line with Orange Egypt’s relentless efforts to play a vital role in providing cutting-edge digital solutions that best serve the state’s digital transformation, the leading telecom network participates in ICT with the aim of showcasing a wide range of its latest solutions that support smart cities, artificial intelligence, and securing major technological projects.
On the sidelines of ICT, Ahmed El-Abd, Chief Commercial Officer at Orange Egypt discusses the progression of cash services and the company’s strategy in FinTech.
What is the current demand for "Orange Cash"? How many customers does it have?
Orange Cash services have undergone a complete development plan over the past several years and have now become a genuine synonym for a tool that fits all of its customers' expectations in terms of electronic payment and digital financial transactions. Because of the numerous features contained in the service, demand for "Orange Cash" services has reached all the standards that Orange Egypt had set. The most essential of them is the ability to pay bills with the lowest costs in Egypt, as well as adding services to pay university tuition through the wallet with a maximum payback of EGP 1,000.
This is in addition to the numerous agreements we have with well-established organizations in Egypt that specialize in all aspects of digital payments such as the collaboration with Visa, the world's largest electronic payments network, the National Bank of Egypt, Egypt's largest bank, Valu, a financial services technology company that provides installment payment services, and the collaboration with Sahl Payments Company to allow recharging electricity cards and paying through the wallet are among the most notable. Orange has collaborated with the "Rahet Baly" platform, Egypt's first and largest platform for moms, to launch the "Rahet Baly - Orange Cash" digital wallet, which is only available to Orange subscribers, as well as other notable partners in the field of electronic payment solutions.
The number of active users in Orange Cash services climbed by 200% and the number of Orange Cash customers increased by 120% in October compared to the same time last year, thanks to the comprehensive growth strategy. We anticipate that the number of new subscribers to Orange Cash services will continue to grow, as the company's current goal is to consolidate Orange Cash's position as Egypt's leading digital payment service, and to enable it to provide all strategic services that help customers seize all market opportunities through a stable, reliable, and accredited platform according to the highest global standards.
What are the company's intentions for investing in financial technology in light of its fast growth?
We place a high priority on investing in financial technology and seek to explore and develop innovative solutions for electronic payment, and provide advanced digital financial services, and electronic transfers to satisfy client demands. We have become a major part of the Egyptian financial technology scene thanks to "Orange Cash" wallet services, as we have focused heavily on redeveloping wallet services and have formed partnerships with large institutions to provide the wallet with all the capabilities required to meet all customers’ needs.
What more services does the company intend to provide in the following year?
We are already expanding our offering of many value-added services, particularly in the digital and data-driven fields, to meet the needs of our customers and provide them with unique experiences while adhering to all the controls established by the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority in this regard.
How can Orange deal with recurrent increases in operational expenses in return for service pricing stability?
The increase in expenses caused by the growth in the price of the dollar, gasoline prices, and inflation puts pressure on company profitability, since the dollar accounts for the majority of the costs of maintaining, installing, and operating the mobile network. Fuel is also an important component in the operation of mobile stations. As a result, Orange has submitted a request to the NTRA to raise the rates of its services in a way that keeps up with market developments while also partially compensating for the ongoing rise in operating and maintenance costs. We are still expecting a response from the National Telecommunications Authority.
What are the most recent advancements in bringing the "ESIM" service to Egypt? Could it be ready in 2024?
Last year, we successfully completed all testing and were ready to deploy integrated (eSIM) on our networks, as part of Orange's commitment to staying current with the world's latest communications technology.
Coordination is now underway with the National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority and service providers in preparation for final Authority clearance and the launch of the service in the Egyptian market.
Comments
Leave a Comment