Egypt’s digital wallet boom sends transaction value soaring to $57.6 billion

Egypt’s mobile wallet market continued to expand sharply in the first half of 2026, with the number of transactions rising 62% year-on-year to 2.22 billion, according to the National Telecom Regulatory Authority.

The value of transactions increased 56% to EGP 2.96 trillion ($57.6 billion), up from EGP 1.90 trillion ($36.9 billion) in the same period last year, while the number of mobile wallets grew 23% to 57.01 million.

The figures point to the growing role of telecom-linked wallets in Egypt’s digital payments ecosystem, as regulators push to widen financial inclusion and reduce reliance on cash.

Vodafone Cash remained the market leader, accounting for 53% of registered wallets and 57% of active wallets. e& money followed with 23% of registered wallets, ahead of Orange Cash at 20% and WE Pay at 4%.

Vodafone Cash also dominated transaction activity, handling 69% of transactions by volume and 77% by value. e& money accounted for 20% of transaction volume and 14% of value, while Orange Cash accounted for 10% of transaction volume and 8% of value.

Wallet-to-wallet transfers were the most common use case, accounting for 54% of transactions and 67% of the total transaction value. Mobile and internet top-ups accounted for 25% of transaction volume, while deposits represented 13%.

The growth of InstaPay also featured prominently in the NTRA data. Transfers from bank accounts to wallets through InstaPay accounted for 78% of deposit transactions and 58% of the total value deposited into mobile wallets.

Direct deposits accounted for 15% of deposit transactions and 28% of the value, while incoming remittances from abroad accounted for 3% of transactions and 10% of the value.

Cash, however, remains an important part of how consumers use mobile wallets. While cash withdrawals represented only 12% of wallet outflow transactions, they accounted for 75% of the value withdrawn or spent.

The report also highlighted demographic differences in adoption. Men held 38 million wallets, or 67% of the total, compared with 19 million wallets held by women.

Users aged between 26 and 45 accounted for half of all wallets nationwide. Those aged 36 to 45 held 14.5 million wallets, while users aged 26 to 35 held 14.1 million.

Cairo had the highest concentration of mobile wallets, with 10.6 million, or 19% of the national total. Giza followed with 6.5 million, while Sharqia, Alexandria and Qalyubia each accounted for around 6%.

The NTRA said it is continuing to work with telecom operators to develop the regulatory framework around mobile wallet services as part of broader efforts to expand electronic payments and financial inclusion across Egypt.

The latest figures underline how quickly mobile wallets are becoming embedded in the country’s financial system, even as cash withdrawals continue to account for a significant share of transaction value.