Egypt’s central bank issues new instructions to implement bank transfers within maximum of 3 hours

CAIRO – 6 January 2021: The Central Bank of Egypt issued Wednesday new instructions to banks, includingthe necessity to implement bank transfers in Egyptian pounds in the shortest possible time.

This comes as part of the support of the state's approach to the transformation to the digital economy, while granting preferential benefits to transfers made electronically to encourage them to use electronic channels.

The CBE said in a statement, that the instructions included that banks receive customer requests submitted during the opening hours of the branches or through electronic channels around the clock, provided that transfer requests to clients' accounts with the same bank are executed within a maximum of two hours from the time of submitting the request.

With regard to requests to transfer to accounts of another bank, it added that implementation will take place within 3 hours of receiving the customer's request.

As for customer requests that are received by banks after two o'clock in the afternoon, the directives included that the transfer order be executed as soon as possible to the beneficiary’s bank and within a maximum of three hours since the start of the next business day. Any operations that require credit approvals or any operations are excluded from adherence to the mentioned times. They are suspected of money laundering or terrorist financing, as well as any other risks that the bank sees.

It stressed that these instructions come within the framework of the continuous efforts to develop the banking sector and increase the level of competitiveness of Egyptian banks, in a way that helps to provide the highest level of service to clients and speedy completion of financial transactions in the shortest possible time.

It also noted that it aims to motivate customers to take advantage of the preferential advantages of electronic financial transactions, and the strong technological infrastructure that was established and developed during the last period in light of the country's efforts to rely on digital payment systems.