The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) announced the launch of a contactless electronic payment acceptance service that allows merchants to use smartphones and tablets as acceptance points by downloading Soft POS applications. The service supports payments from various types of contactless cards, with card PINs entered on the smart device using an internationally accredited and secured process. The CBE positioned the launch as part of its efforts to expand electronic payment infrastructure and facilitate transactions for citizens and merchants. It stated that using smart devices as acceptance points can reduce the purchase and maintenance costs associated with traditional POS terminals for payment service providers, companies and merchants, and help bring small enterprises into the electronic payment acceptance ecosystem. The CBE noted it had previously run a pilot version of the service with a transaction limit of EGP 600 before moving to the official launch.
Central Bank of Egypt 2026-02-01
Central Bank of Egypt launches contactless payment acceptance on smart devices via Soft POS
The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) launched a contactless electronic payment service allowing merchants to use smartphones and tablets as acceptance points via Soft POS applications. This aims to expand electronic payment infrastructure, reduce costs for payment service providers, and integrate small enterprises into the electronic payment ecosystem. The service supports various contactless cards with secure PIN entry and follows a successful pilot with a transaction limit of EGP 600.