Egypt’s Mobile Wallet Transactions Jump 62% as Value Nears EGP 3 Trillion in Six Months
Mobile wallets are moving deeper into Egypt’s everyday financial system, with users carrying out 2.22 billion transactions worth EGP 2.96 trillion during the first half of 2026, as transaction growth significantly outpaced the expansion in the number of wallets.
New figures from Egypt’s National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) show that the number of mobile wallets operated by telecom companies reached 57.01 million by the end of the first half, up 23% from 46.33 million a year earlier.
But usage is growing much faster. The number of transactions surged 62% year-on-year, from 1.37 billion, while their combined value increased 56%, from EGP 1.90 trillion.
That divergence suggests Egypt’s mobile-wallet market is entering a new stage: growth is no longer being driven simply by opening more wallets, but increasingly by customers using them more frequently and for larger volumes of money.
Vodafone Cash handles more than three-quarters of transaction value
Vodafone Cash remains by far the largest player in the market.
It accounts for 53% of all registered mobile wallets, followed by e& cash with 23%, Orange Cash with 20% and WE Pay with 4%.
The gap becomes considerably wider when actual usage is measured.
Vodafone Cash represents 57% of active wallets, but handles 69% of all transactions and 77% of their total value.
e& cash accounts for 24% of active wallets, 20% of transactions and 14% of transaction value, while Orange Cash represents 17% of active wallets, 10% of transactions and 8% of value. WE Pay accounts for 2% of active wallets and 1% of both transaction numbers and value.
The figures indicate that Vodafone’s lead is not simply a consequence of having the largest wallet base. Its customers are also generating a disproportionately larger share of the money moving through telecom-operated wallets.
EGP 2 trillion moves directly between wallets
Transfers remain the dominant use of mobile wallets in Egypt.
Wallet-to-wallet transfers accounted for 54% of all transactions during the first six months of the year, followed by mobile and internet top-ups at 25%, deposits at 13%, withdrawals at 4%, and other payments — including utilities, shopping and donations — at 4%.
Measured by value, the concentration is even stronger.
Transfers represented 67% of the EGP 2.96 trillion processed during the period. That translates into roughly EGP 1.98 trillion moving from one mobile wallet to another in only six months.
Deposits accounted for 17% of transaction value and cash withdrawals for 12%, while other payments represented 3% and mobile and internet top-ups just 1%.
The contrast between transaction count and value also reveals how wallets are being used. Airtime and data top-ups generate a large number of relatively small transactions, while transfers and cash withdrawals involve much larger amounts.
InstaPay is changing how money enters mobile wallets
One of the most striking figures in the NTRA report concerns the way customers fund their wallets.
Transfers from bank accounts to mobile wallets through InstaPay accounted for 78% of all deposit transactions and 58% of the total value deposited.
Direct deposits represented 15% of deposit transactions but 28% of their value, while incoming international remittances accounted for only 3% of transactions yet represented 10% of deposited value.
ATM deposits and bank-card funding each accounted for 2% of deposit transactions and 2% of deposited value.
The figures point to increasingly close integration between Egypt’s banking and mobile-wallet ecosystems, with InstaPay emerging as the main digital bridge for moving money from bank accounts into telecom wallets.
Cash has not disappeared
Despite rapid digitization, the figures also show that mobile wallets have not yet eliminated the need for physical cash.
When money leaves the wallet ecosystem, cash withdrawals account for 75% of the total value cashed out or spent, compared with 19% for payments such as shopping, utility bills and donations and 6% for mobile and internet top-ups.
By number of transactions, however, the picture is reversed. Mobile and internet top-ups account for 76% of outgoing transactions, while withdrawals and other payments each represent 12%.
This means cash withdrawals happen much less frequently than airtime purchases, but involve substantially larger amounts.
Mobile wallet penetration reaches 45%
The expansion is also visible beyond transaction volumes.
NTRA said mobile-wallet penetration reached 45% in the first half of 2026, compared with 39% in the same period of 2025, representing a 15% increase in the penetration rate.
The customer base remains predominantly male, with around 38 million wallets registered to men, representing 67% of the total, compared with around 19 million wallets held by women, or 33%.
Wallet ownership is relatively evenly spread across the main working-age groups.
Users aged 16 to 25 hold 11.5 million wallets, representing 20% of the total. The 26–35 age group accounts for 14.1 million, or 25%, while customers aged 36–45 hold 14.5 million wallets, also around 25%.
Another 9.4 million wallets belong to users aged 46–55, while people aged 55 and above hold 7.5 million.
Cairo alone has more than 10 million wallets
Mobile wallets are now available across all Egyptian governorates, although usage remains concentrated in the largest population centers.
Cairo leads with 10.6 million wallets, equivalent to 19% of the nationwide total, followed by Giza with 6.5 million, or 11%.
Sharqia has 3.6 million wallets, Alexandria 3.5 million and Qalyubia 3.3 million, with each of the three governorates accounting for around 6% of the market.
Wallets are expanding into government services
The first half of 2026 also brought several changes designed to make telecom wallets usable for a wider range of transactions.
NTRA enabled WE Pay customers to activate wallets and perform selected transactions through the *7# USSD code, allowing some services to be used without an internet connection.
Similar USSD access is available through *9# for Vodafone Cash, #115# for Orange Cash and *777# for e& cash.
A telecom operator has also introduced the ability to recharge prepaid electricity cards using NFC technology and a mobile wallet, allowing compatible electricity meters to be topped up directly.
Another operator has made it possible to inquire about and pay for services provided by Egypt’s prosecution authorities through mobile wallets, covering criminal, family and traffic prosecution services.
Taken together, the numbers show a market growing in more than one direction. Egypt added more than 10 million mobile wallets in a year, but the much faster increase in transactions suggests the more important change is happening inside those wallets.
With EGP 2.96 trillion already processed in six months, telecom wallets are increasingly moving beyond their original role as a simple alternative for people without bank accounts and becoming part of the country’s broader digital payments infrastructure.