United Bank is looking to acquire a controlling stake in an unnamed e-payments company, and is currently in negotiations over the potential transaction, Chairman and Managing Director Ashraf El Kady told Al Mal. The bank has completed due diligence on the firm, and will announce the transaction before the end of the year, he said. He refused to disclose the names of the companies until the agreements were finalized.

The bank is also considering investing in an unnamed fintech company with which it is currently developing a closed loop digital wallet, El Kady said. A closed loop payment system in a digital wallet offers users incentives to load money onto their account for use at specific linked retailers. The product would provide services to certain segments of society, El Kady said.

The bank already has a presence in the digital banking space: United Bank launched its digital wallet in 2018 in an effort to expand the public’s access to non-cash payment services, and received the award for Best Electronic Banking Channels by the UK’s International Finance magazine in 2020.

OTHER FINTECH NEWS-

Holders of UnionPay International cards will be able to pay for their purchases electronically across AlexBank’s merchant network in Egypt for the first time under a new agreement between the Chinese payment services provider, Alexbank and Network International, UnionPay said in a press release (pdf) yesterday.