Egypt Grants tpay Licence for Direct Mobile Government Payments

tpay, a regional digital payments provider headquartered in the UAE and operating across Egypt, the Middle East and Africa, has secured Egypt’s first regulatory licence to offer Direct Carrier Billing (DCB) for government services after signing a framework agreement with the National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA). The licence enables the company to process mobile-based payments for services including utility bills, traffic fines and civil registry fees.

Under the new arrangement, citizens will be able to pay for essential government transactions directly through their mobile phone balance or have charges added to their monthly mobile bill, without needing bank accounts or payment cards.

Financial inclusion data shows that while 76.3% of Egyptian adults have active bank accounts, mobile and mobile-internet penetration is nearly universal — creating an opportunity to expand digital payment access to underserved segments of the population.