Central Bank and Banking System Law No. 194 of 2020

The Central Bank and Banking System Law No. 194 of 2020, promulgated on 15 September 2020 and effective the following day, is Egypt's primary banking statute and the umbrella legislation that, for the first time, brought payment systems, payment services, financial technology, electronic money, digital banks and crypto-assets within an express legal framework. Although it is a general banking law, its Chapter Four (Payment Systems and Services and Financial Technology) is specifically and substantially directed at digital finance, which places it within the fintech regulatory perimeter rather than being incidental to it. Before this Law, electronic payments and fintech were governed only loosely through Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) circulars; the Law created legal certainty by defining and regulating Payment Systems Operators (PSOs) and Payment Service Providers (PSPs) and empowering the CBE to license, register, supervise and sanction them. It sets out conditions and procedures for licensing payment operators and providers, their operating rules, obligations to protect the electronic systems used and to ensure final settlement, and CBE oversight and control. The Law also provides the statutory basis for the licensing of digital (fully online) banks, for the regulation of electronic money, and, importantly, it prohibits the issuance, trading or promotion of cryptocurrencies and the operation of related platforms without a licence from the CBE's Board, bringing crypto-assets squarely under central-bank control. It underpins Egypt's drive toward a cashless economy and financial inclusion. As enabling legislation, it is the parent instrument under which the CBE's detailed 2025 licensing, registration, governance and fit-and-proper rules for PSOs and PSPs, and the CBE fintech regulatory sandbox, are issued. It is the foundation of Egypt's banking-sector fintech and payments regulation.

1. 1Umbrella banking statute; Chapter Four expressly regulates payment systems, payment services, fintech, e-money and digital banks
2. 2CBE empowered to license, register, supervise and sanction Payment Systems Operators (PSOs) and Payment Service Providers (PSPs)
3. 3Statutory basis for licensing digital (online-only) banks and for regulating electronic money
4. 4Issuance, trading or promotion of cryptocurrencies and related platforms prohibited without CBE Board licence
5. 5Obligations on protection of electronic systems and finality of settlement under CBE oversight
6. 6Parent instrument for the CBE's 2025 PSO/PSP licensing, governance and fit-and-proper rules and the fintech sandbox