CAIRO, July 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — UnionPay International (UPI), the global payment network, has announced a massive expansion of its digital footprint in Egypt through a strategic partnership with Paymob, the leading financial services enabler in the MENA region. The collaboration has officially enabled over 160,000 POS terminals across Egypt to accept UnionPay cards, unlocking an unprecedented opportunity for local businesses to tap into lucrative, high-spending international consumer markets.
This scale-up marks a game-changing milestone for digital payments in Egypt and the wider region. It represents the rapid execution of a landmark strategic cooperation agreement signed between both parties in September 2025. In a powerful demonstration of agility and institutional alignment, the partnership moved from formal signing to full market implementation in just eight months. The original agreement was executed under the prestigious witness of both the Central Bank of Egypt and the People’s Bank of China, underscoring the geopolitical and economic importance of the corridor.
Paymob, led by Endeavor Entrepreneurs Islam Shawky, Alain El Hajj, and Mostafa Menessy, has leveraged its cutting-edge infrastructure to rapidly activate UnionPay card acceptance. This swift, large-scale commercial deployment connects millions of international cardholders directly to local Egyptian merchants, unlocking new horizons for cross-border payments, global trade, and Egypt’s accelerating digital economy.
With Egypt aggressively scaling its position as a top-tier global tourism and business hub, this expanded acceptance network empowers local merchants to seamless capture frictionless, card-present and digital payments across all major sectors, including luxury hospitality, high-end retail, fine dining, historical tourism excursions, and transport services.
For Egyptian businesses, this initiative goes far beyond basic financial inclusion; it provides direct, frictionless access to massive international purchasing power. By eliminating reliance on physical cash exchanges and foreign currency friction, local merchants are now uniquely positioned to maximize their average basket sizes, accelerate transaction speeds, and drive immediate bottom-line revenue growth within the digital economy.
Through this infrastructure upgrade, businesses located in Egypt’s primary tourism epicenters, coastal resorts, and bustling commercial capitals can offer international visitors a familiar, trusted, and premium payment experience, driving immediate customer loyalty and unlocking previously inaccessible sales volume.
“Egypt stands at the forefront of global tourism and cross-border trade, attracting millions of affluent global visitors annually”, said Mr. Feng Chen, General Manager of UnionPay International, ” By expanding UnionPay card acceptance across Paymob’s vast merchant ecosystem, we are not just smoothing out the payment experience for global travellers, we are handing local Egyptian enterprises a powerful catalyst to capture elite international spending power and scale their businesses into the global digital economy”.
This landmark rollout directly aligns with the Central Bank of Egypt’s (CBE) vision for financial digitization and cash-lite infrastructure modernization, elevating Egypt’s merchant landscape to meet the highest global standards of electronic payment security and convenience.
As international arrivals and cross-border commercial trade continue their aggressive upward trajectory, both Paymob and UnionPay are committed to continuously expanding local acceptance capabilities, ensuring Egyptian businesses remain perfectly equipped to convert global foot traffic into measurable financial success.
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