YellowPay Launches Bitcoin Vouchers In Egypt

Earlier this month Jordan-based Bitcoin startup, YellowPay, launched a Bitcoin voucher service in Egypt, the fourth largest economy in the Middle East. The service will give Egyptians a new way to buy Bitcoin, a difficult thing to do in the country.

The vouchers are an attempt to increase bitcoin’s liquidity in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. YellowPay already operates a bitcoin merchant payment processing service in Jordan, Lebanon and Dubai. The startup sees Bitcoin as an opportunity to provide easy online payments in a region that is lacking financial infrastructure. But in order for that to happen, people must first have bitcoin to pay with.

Despite the region’s incredible e-commerce growth, growing 45 percent in 2012,  there are still a lot of pains in online transactions and payments. Most online transactions are still settled in cash, as merchant adoption of online payments is low. The local online payment providers are difficult to work with in the region and provide clunky user experiences. YellowPay sees Bitcoin as a quick and easy way to overcome the region’s financial hurdles.

The State Of Bitcoin in MENA

The potential for the digital currency to help the region is still very speculative but things are moving fast. In 2013, the region had no bitcoin startups, conferences, accepting merchants or any real activity but 2014 changed all that. Last year, two Bitcoin conferences were held in the region, as well as panels and talks at major Arab tech conferences. The year also saw the first Arab Bitcoin startups founded.

In a YellowPay blog post the company stated that merchant adoption has seen strong growth during the past year. 2014 saw the arab music service Anghami, crowd-lending platform Liwwa, and e-commerce platform ShopBuilder all accept the digital currency. The payment processor expects merchant adoption in MENA to explode, citing the beforementioned adoption and widespread media coverage in the region.

“The media coverage to date has been extensive and across all media outlets, and it seems to be growing steadily. Bitcoin in the Middle East has been covered on TV, radio, tech outlets, print, and online, and internationally as well.”
— – YellowPay

According to the bitcoin startup, there are still many challenges ahead for the region including regulatory uncertainty and difficulties buying, and selling. the digital currency. YellowPay seeks to overcome those problems by focusing on merchant adoption during 2015, which they think will help spur demand and awareness.