​Commercial International Bank-Egypt (CIB), the country’s largest private bank, in association with MasterCard, the leading global payments and Technology Company, rewarded 69 customers with gold bars in a special ceremony, as part of the National campaign of banking cards, which is organized for the third consecutive year. 

The ceremony was held at the Nile Ritz Carlton Hotel, during which Mr. Ahmed Issa, CIB acting CEO Consumer Banking, Mr. Magdy Hassan, Regional Manager, MasterCard and Mr. Tamer ElKashef, Country Manager – Egypt, MasterCard and distributed 69 gold bars to winners. each bar has the word “CIB” printed on one side and “MasterCard” printed on the other side.

The National campaign, which ran from May 1 until July 31, 2016, aims to encourage CIB’s MasterCard customers to use their credit and debit cards for all purchases, instead of paying with cash in Egypt. The Bank’s contribution to this campaign, in cooperation with MasterCard, reflects its strategy towards facilitating the customers’ daily transactions and providing all means of comfort and convenience. CIB, sharing the same vision as MasterCard, is working towards creating a cashless society, by promoting awareness among its customers that electronic payment methods are safe and secure.

In his speech, Mr. Issa congratulated all winners and confirmed CIB’s commitment to promote the utilization of electronic payments among customers. “85% of Egyptian citizens have no access to the formal banking services, which results in challenging and constraining Egypt’s economic development. Accordingly, stimulating the utilization of electronic payments among current and potential customers is the main driver for the overall integrated financial services, which is one of the key, principle goals of CIB,” Issa said. “Besides, the electronic payment contributes significantly to the reduction of corruption and ensures low cost of transactions by decreasing the number of purchasing transactions performed in cash.”

From his side, Mr. ElKashef commented: “It’s our pleasure to cooperate with nine Egyptian banks in implementing this campaign for the third consecutive way, sharing the same goal of encouraging banking cardholders to use electronic payment, and creating awareness about its benefits, in addition to supporting Egypt’s transition towards a cashless society.” He added, “Nearly 85-90% of customers’ purchasing transactions worldwide are still in cash, which cost governments 1.5% of GDP spent on printing and distributing banknotes… What is significant about our technology is that we continuously introduce products for innovative payment solutions that help reducing the dependency on cash and contributes to the adoption of non-cash payment methods. We are then having a process that must bear fruits at the end and create positive impact on the development of the Egyptian economy through the integration of more citizens into the financial system.”

It is worth mentioning that the 69 gold bars winners were selected through a raffle draw held under the supervision of the Ministry of Social Solidarity.