Egyptian fintech company Axis has introduced its digital payments platform, axisPay, to the North African market. The startup obtained a license from the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) for its open-loop mobile wallet, which provides small businesses and their employees with a digital banking alternative. Axis received a seed investment of $8.25 million nearly 18 months ago, with participation from investors such as Tiger Global, Sawari Ventures, and Raba, as well as founders and executives from prominent fintech companies. During its stealth phase, Axis focused on obtaining licenses, building relationships with regulators and local banks, and developing the necessary infrastructure for its platform.

The co-founders of Axis, Jacques Marco, Ahmed Ragab, and Nada Abdelnour, all have backgrounds in fintech. Small businesses play a vital role in the Egyptian economy, contributing to over 80% of the country’s GDP and employing more than 20 million people. However, these businesses often rely heavily on cash transactions and face challenges with online banking services, payroll processing, and working capital financing. Axis aims to address this gap by offering a comprehensive solution for digital payments and money flow. While other fintech companies in Egypt have focused on consumer financial inclusion, Axis targets SMEs, which it believes are underserved in the banking sector.

According to Marco, small businesses spend around 192 hours per year dealing with cash payments to employees, resulting in inefficiencies and potential financial burdens. Setting up bank accounts for streamlined payroll can be cumbersome and costly for these businesses. Axis’ platform aims to simplify the payment process by enabling businesses to use axisPay mobile wallets to send salaries, reimburse expenses, manage expenses, offer earned wage advances, and provide access to financial services for employees. The platform also allows employees to make funds transfers, bill payments, online shopping, and QR code payments. While other fintech companies in Egypt offer earned wage access services, Axis distinguishes itself by targeting small businesses and the unbanked or underbanked employees.

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In the future, Axis plans to enable consumers to receive remittances from abroad directly to their mobile wallets. The startup has partnered with Visa for its mobile wallet and virtual card, as well as with Fawry to facilitate cash-in and cash-out transactions through the extensive network of Fawry agents across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Axis has already launched its platform in beta to over 100 small businesses and onboarded 5,000 employees while in stealth mode. 

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The company aims to expand its customer base to 5,000 small businesses and 80,000–100,000 employees by the end of the year. Additionally, Axis plans to launch a lending product that addresses a $15 billion financing gap for SMEs in Egypt. The company is working closely with regulators to align with the country’s national strategy of digitization, reducing cash usage, empowering small businesses, and driving economic growth.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert. 
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard