LEGISLATION WATCH- E-Payments Act with Council of State for review: The final draft of the E-Payments Act, which is meant to guide Egypt’s transition to a cashless, paperless economy, has been referred to the Council of State (Maglis El Dawla) for review, CBE Sub-Governor for Payment Systems and Business Technology Ayman Hussein said yesterday, according to Masrawy. Once the council completes its review, the draft law will be shipped off to the House of Representatives for debate and a final vote. The entire process should take one or two months, Hussein said.

Background: The Madbouly Cabinet had signed off on the final draft in October. The bill is expected to serve as a prerequisite for enacting the Finance Ministry’s new billing and payments system that would see it roll out ATMs and point-of-sale (PoS) terminals at which people will be able to pay fees for various government services, as well as introduce a new national debit card. The CBE-drafted act would also grant incentives to anyone paying government service fees electronically, including discounts and, possibly, rebates, officials previously said.