Euronet Worldwide has teamed with Middle East telecomms outfit National Telecommunications Company (NTC) to form Cashnet, a new company established to develop and operate an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) network for banks and card issuers in Egypt.
A joint venture between Euronet, NTC and George Soros' Quantum Fund, Cashnet will launch 50 ATMs by June of this year. The company's business plan calls for the operation of 500 ATMs by 2004.
Cashnet says it will offer Egyptian financial institutions a range of solutions, including ATM and Eftpos services, connections to international payment networks, authorisation interfaces for the Internet and GSM mobile operators, and credit and debit card issuance.
Euronet Worldwide is to provide the budding company with day-to-day management services, and processing of electronic transactions via its data centre in Budapest.
"Egypt is a market of 65 million people with a virtually undeveloped EFT industry that is on the verge of tremendous growth," says Dr. M T Bardai, Cashnet CEO.
He claims already to have secured agreements with Citibank, Egyptian American Bank (EAB), Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Diners Club International.
Currently nine Egyptian banks use Euronet's software for ATM, switching and debit card services says Michael Brown, Euronet chairman and CEO.