MIDBANK gets FRA approval to launch SME digital finance firm
Regulation · announcedSaturday 24 October 2026
MIDBANK has received FRA approval to set up a digital finance company focused on small and medium enterprises. The approval is for establishment, so the company still needs to be set up and licensed.
It is a mid-sized bank's move into digital SME finance under the regulator's licensing regime.
From April 2027, consumer finance companies must consult a score from the I-Score private credit bureau before approving financing, under a new Financial Regulatory Authority rule. The rule supports greater machine-driven decisions in lending, drawing on alternative data.
Cabinet approved the sale of 30% to 45% of Banque du Caire on the Egyptian Exchange, and the regulator approved a larger offering share. The bank priced its IPO at the top of the range at E£5.3 a share after institutional orders of EGP 205.8bn in the private tranche.
Fawry's subsidiary Fawry Consumer Finance received preliminary FRA approval to add factoring to its activities. It plans to offer invoice financing to MSMEs once it gets the final licence.
The Central Bank of Egypt and the Financial Regulatory Authority said stress tests on the ten largest banks, about 80% of sector assets, showed low to moderate capital and liquidity risk. The tests cover macroeconomic and climate scenarios and are continuously updated.
The Financial Regulatory Authority approved raising the Banque du Caire IPO sale from 30% to 45% of capital, lifting the offer to about EGP 36.4 billion. Foreign cornerstone investors including EBRD and IFC committed up to USD 256 million, and the public tranche was reported at nearly double its allotment.
The Central Bank of Egypt has issued a circular requiring banks to obtain its prior approval before amending investment policies of affiliated investment funds where the change alters the fund's nature. The rule applies to banks operating in the domestic market and was also flagged on the CBE's own search pages.
The CBE issued new controls on bank financing of consumer finance companies, tightening supervision of this lending channel. Lenders are reassessing instalment and card-based consumer finance plans in response.
