In a significant boost to the regional payments sector, Abu Dhabi-based financial services provider LuLu International Exchange – part of the LuLu Financial Group – has entered a partnership with the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) – the North African country’s largest bank – through Ripple’s global payments network RippleNet to process cross-border payments from the UAE to Egypt.
With a large diaspora employed abroad in the Gulf states – including the UAE – Egypt received $24 billion in remittances in 2020 alone, making it one of the top five remittance recipients globally after India, China, Mexico and the Philippines.
Remittances are vital for the countries that receive them, and these funds play a significant role in a country’s gross domestic product. Yet, the inherent friction in the current global payments infrastructure causes cross-border remittances to be costly and slow. Through this partnership, NBE and LuLu Exchange look to elevate the cross-border remittance experience into Egypt to be cheaper, quicker and more reliable.
“Egypt ranks amongst the top five countries worldwide in terms of remittances received from its overseas expatriate communities,” said Hesham Elsafty, group head for Financial Institutions and International Financial Services at NBE. “Given the important role remittances play in the Egyptian economy, the National Bank of Egypt is continuously aiming to develop and enhance the infrastructure which pertains to this line of business.
“NBE’s partnership with Ripple will help to improve overall efficiency by enabling NBE to establish new alliances across wider markets with reduced cost and quicker integration time. We are very excited to announce our new partnership with Ripple and Lulu Exchange, which we believe will contribute to a further acceleration of the Egypt-UAE remittances corridor.”
Adeeb Ahamed, managing director of LuLu Financial Group, said, “Our partnership with Ripple and NBE reaffirms our commitment to enhance the payments ecosystem of the MENA region through meaningful collaboration and suitable adoption of technology. By unlocking the full potential of the UAE-Egypt corridor, the partnership will help deliver a reliable, seamless and accessible cross-border payments solution for the Egyptian community and businesses in the UAE.”
Navin Gupta, managing director of South Asia and MENA at Ripple, explained, “The ability to send and receive money quickly, reliably and inexpensively today plays a larger role than ever before. Ripple is proud to partner with NBE and LuLu Exchange to bolster the MENA region’s financial infrastructure and provide a frictionless cross-border payment experience for the Egyptian community.”
RippleNet leverages blockchain technology to help partners across a global network accelerate their business performance and scale. It delivers a superior end-customer experience, simplified network partnering, liquidity management solutions, lines of credit and a state-of-the-art infrastructure that enables real-time payments.
LuLu Financial Group, which has a presence in more than 11 countries, operates a network of over 235 branches across the GCC, Indian subcontinent and APAC regions, of which 83 branches are spread across the UAE alone. This partnership between NBE and LuLu Exchange to serve the UAE-Egypt remittance corridor comes hot on the heels of LuLu Exchange’s recent connection to India’s Federal Bank to enhance the cross-border payments experience into the country.
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