The story of · Egypt
Fawry, Egypt's bill-payment network, grew from 5,000 shop points in 2010 to over 300,000
Fawry links utilities and telecom operators to customers through retail shops. TechCabal reports 54.1 million users as of Q2 2025. Founder Ashraf Sabry says the company was almost bankrupt three years in.
What Fawry does
Fawry, established in 2008, provides banking and payment technology services in Egypt. It started as a switch. A switch is a system that connects two sides so they can exchange payments. Here it linked utilities and telecom operators on one side to consumers on the other, through retail agents, in an economy where cash is widely used.1,2
In plain terms, a customer brings cash to a shop, and the retail agent passes the payment through the switch to the utility or telecom operator. The shop becomes the place where the bill is paid.2
The bet and the doubt
In 2008 Ashraf Sabry left his job. He had limited time to convince investors that people would pay bills electronically at a grocery store. According to one account, investors were hard to persuade that consumers would trust paying bills this way.3,4
Sabry says he committed 80% of his personal financial resources to the project. He also says the company was almost bankrupt after three years.3
Launch and listing
Fawry launched its service in March 2010 with 5,000 points of service in two Egyptian cities. In 2019 it listed on the Egyptian Exchange, offering 36% of its share capital. In August 2020 its market value reached $1.07 billion, according to Fintech News Middle East.5
The 2010 launch covered two cities, so the first network was small next to the figures reported for later years.2,5
Scale today
TechCabal reports that the network grew to over 300,000 service points and 54.1 million users as of Q2 2025. It also reports that Fawry processes about six million transactions a day.2
The user and service point figures are dated to the second quarter of 2025. The market value figure belongs to August 2020 and comes from a different source, so the two are not a like-for-like comparison.2,5
What could not be verified
- The near-bankruptcy after three years: this is Sabry's own account, not independently confirmed.
- The 80% of personal financial resources: Sabry's own figure, not independently checked.
- The 54.1 million users and over 300,000 service points: TechCabal's figures, not independently checked here.
- The six million daily transactions: TechCabal's figure, not independently checked here.
- The August 2020 market value of $1.07 billion: Fintech News Middle East's figure, not independently checked here.
Sources