VeriFone Payment Systems Selected for Key Role in Modernizing Egypt's Retail Petroleum Market
Egyptian services provider e-Finance chooses VeriFone portable payment devices for government-sponsored electronic payment system
PARIS — (CARTES, Booth #4 J 062) – VeriFone Systems, Inc. (NYSE: PAY), announced today that its portable payment acceptance systems, the VX 680 and VX 675, have been deployed by e-finance to facilitate the state-sponsored transition of Egypt's entire gasoline and petroleum products retail market to an electronic payment system. e-finance, Egypt's first and largest payment gateway service, was awarded the modernization contract in May and has deployed one-third of an estimated 18,000 VeriFone portable payment solutions at gasoline stations throughout the country.
The development of an electronic payment system is intended to help the country regulate the distribution and consumption of petroleum products and reduce smuggling. The smart card-based system being implemented by e-finance ensures that Egypt's Petroleum and Finance Ministries can control the quantity and value of gasoline being consumed. e-finance purchased the VX 680 and VX 675 from Systems Engineering of Egypt (SEE), VeriFone's local distribution partner. The portable, handheld devices feature powerful processors and are designed for rugged environments where drops and spills are common and wireless connectivity options are required, enabling gasoline stations to reduce consumer wait times by quickly and reliably processing on the spot transactions, which are routed to e-finance's gateway.
"e-Finance selected VeriFone's superior consumer-facing payment acceptance solutions in part based on the company's experience in the petroleum distribution channel and its relationship with an experienced partner in the country," said Ibrahim Sarhan, CEO and managing director, e-finance.
Ozgur Ozvardar, general manager, VeriFone Middle East and Northern Africa, commended e-finance and SEE in the implementation of the new electronic payment system. "VeriFone technology plays a crucial role in payment modernization efforts around the globe and we are extremely pleased to work with e-finance and SEE in the completion of this very important project," he said.
e-finance provides state of the art electronic payment solutions and business integration services for Egypt's government and financial sectors and operates a secure payment network infrastructure. Previously, the company developed a fully automated and integrated process for payments between the country's Customs and Taxes authorities and banks.
About e-finance (www.efinance.com.eg)
e-finance provides state of the art Electronic Payment Solutions and Business Integration & Optimization services to the government and financial sectors in a secure environment according to the international security standards. e-finance is the First and Largest Electronic Payment and Collection Gateway in Egypt. Being a national company, e-finance's shareholders are National Investment Bank (70%), National Bank of Egypt (10%), Banque Misr (10%), and Egyptian Banks Company-EBC (10%).
About Systems Engineering of Egypt (SEE) (www.seegypt.com)
Systems Engineering of Egypt (SEE) is a Cairo based system integrator with activities all over Egypt and the region. It was founded in 1984 by a group of university professors and professionals recognizing the need for offering new technologies packed with excellent quality of support. SEE is the leading Egyptian and Regional Marketer of Data Communication and Retail Banking services/equipment. Maintaining the highest professional standards in customer support is the philosophy that SEE follows to better serve its clients. A dynamic and young team of professionals with strong academic background and technical experience remains its primary and dominant strength (150 technicians out of 210 employees). SEE has been growing steadily from a small private partnership Company (LE 21000) to a group of regional share holding companies (Over LE 35 Million in capital and over LE .3 Billion in revenue). SEE has gained a reputation for outstanding achievement and quality. Maintaining the company's national and regional reputation has been the management's main aim throughout the years of operation. So, it is not surprising that over 70% of SEE's annual revenue comes from ongoing projects and loyal list of clients.
