Best Payment Gateways in Egypt: A Merchant’s Guide for 2026

Which payment gateway is best for your store?

For an Egyptian online store, start your comparison with Paymob and Kashier if you need a mix of cards, wallets and installments. Put Fawry on the shortlist when paying by reference code matters to your customers. Consider PayTabs for its combination of online payments, invoicing and repeat billing, and XPay for hosted checkout, payment links and a clearly published card-pricing starting point.

Those are use-case recommendations, not a measured ranking. The best gateway for your business is the one your customers can pay through, your store can connect to, and your team can reconcile without losing track of fees or refunds.

Research checked: 14 September 2026. This guide uses the providers’ official product pages and documentation linked below. We have not run a comparative benchmark of approval rates, uptime or support response times. Published capabilities and prices still need confirmation for your merchant account.

Egypt’s payment gateways at a glance

A provider’s product catalogue is not a promise that every method is enabled on every account. Ask for the exact Egyptian offering, including the installment partners and wallets you intend to display at checkout.

Paymob: shortlist for a broad payment mix

Paymob documents card payments, mobile wallets and buy-now-pay-later options, with a separate guide to bank installments in Egypt. It also offers payment links and several integration paths. That makes it a sensible candidate when your customers have different payment preferences. See payment methods, Egyptian bank installments and the integration overview.

Ask Paymob for a written quote broken down by method. Confirm which options work with your store’s actual integration, how refunds appear in reports, and when captured payments become available in your bank account. A long list of supported methods is useful only if the ones your customers need are enabled and easy to use.

Our take: include Paymob in your first two demos if you are building a general-purpose Egyptian store. Choose it after checking the live checkout and settlement terms, rather than assuming that broad coverage makes it the cheapest.

Kashier: flexible checkout, but verify the quote

Kashier’s current developer reference lists cards, wallets, bank installments and several installment providers. Its payment-link tools are another route for collecting payment. See the method reference and payment-link documentation.

There is a pricing discrepancy worth catching before you sign. The pricing page displays 2.75% plus EGP 3, with free setup and no monthly fee. The FAQ instead states 2.85% plus EGP 3. Treat neither figure as your agreed rate until Kashier confirms the applicable fees, taxes and payment-method coverage in writing.

Its going-live documentation also distinguishes test-mode methods from the methods configured on a live account. For a merchant, the practical lesson is simple: ask to see the payment choices your approved account will actually offer.

Our take: a useful comparison against Paymob, particularly if payment links and multiple payment types matter. Resolve the commercial details and live availability before making your decision.

Fawry Accept: shortlist for reference-code payments

Fawry’s Online Checkout page lists Fawry Pay reference codes, cards, mobile wallets, bank installments and buy-now-pay-later options. Reference-code payment is the reason to give it a closer look if your customers want that route.

For any pay-later-by-code flow, agree on when an unpaid order expires, how long stock stays reserved, and how your store receives confirmation. Creating a payment reference is not the same as receiving money.

Our take: consider Fawry when the payment journey matters as much as card acceptance. Ask for a method-by-method quote and test a completed payment, an expired reference and a refund before launch.

PayTabs: compare invoicing and repeat billing

The PayTabs Egypt page advertises online card payments, PayLinks, invoices and repeat billing. It is worth considering if your business needs more than a single checkout transaction.

Check pricing directly: that page contains both a 2.7% plus EGP 2 Growth figure and a separate 2.5% plus EGP 2 Growth figure. Get the applicable plan and volume band confirmed in writing.

Our take: compare the exact workflow you need and its full monthly cost. Do not choose from an isolated headline percentage.

XPay: a clear starting point for card pricing

XPay’s product site presents hosted checkout, payment links and developer tools. Its pricing page lists 2.5% plus EGP 2.50 for Egyptian-issued cards and 2.75% plus EGP 2.50 for international cards. It says payments can be accepted in 15 currencies with settlement in EGP.

Those published rates make a useful starting point for comparison. Ask separately about taxes, currency conversion, refunds, settlement timing and non-card methods. Accepting a foreign currency does not mean your bank receives that currency.

Our take: add XPay to your shortlist if you want a hosted payment journey or payment links. Assess it against your real orders and operating needs; a published tariff alone does not establish the lowest total cost.

Compare the cost of an order, not just the percentage

A fixed fee matters more on a small basket. Using XPay’s published local-card tariff as an illustration, a EGP 200 payment produces a EGP 7.50 processing fee, or 3.75% of the basket. A EGP 1,000 payment produces EGP 27.50, or 2.75%. These calculations exclude taxes and any other charges; they are not a settlement quote. Source: XPay pricing.

Build a comparison using your average order value, expected paid orders and actual payment mix. Include:

• Processing: percentage and fixed fees for local cards, foreign cards, wallets and installments.
• Standing charges: setup, monthly, minimum-volume or other contractual fees.
• Refunds and disputes: whether original fees are returned, what additional charges apply, and how deductions appear.
• Settlement: payout charges, timing, minimum balances and any money held back.
• Your own work: integration, maintenance and time spent matching payments to orders.

For example, compare a normal month and a month with more returns. A provider that looks inexpensive on completed sales can have a different cost profile once refunds and manual work are included.

Five checks before you choose a gateway

1. Confirm eligibility first. Describe your activity, legal status, expected volume and bank-account setup. Get the required documents and approval conditions before paying for integration work.
2. Match the checkout to your buyers. Try the Arabic and English experience on a phone. Check the payment methods your customers actually ask for, including any specific installment partner.
3. Check the store connection. A gateway having an API does not mean your store builder has a supported integration. Verify compatibility, ownership of maintenance and how payment status reaches your orders.
4. Follow the money. Ask for a sample report showing an order, processing fees, a refund and the bank payout. Confirm who helps when those figures do not match.
5. Test the awkward cases. Include a successful payment, a decline, an abandoned checkout, a delayed confirmation and a refund. The store must not ship an order just because the customer saw a success screen.

Ask two providers to demonstrate the same journey and quote for the same basket sizes and monthly volumes. That gives you a decision you can explain to your team, rather than a choice based on a list of logos.

Common questions from Egyptian merchants

Which payment gateway is cheapest in Egypt?

There is no defensible universal answer from the pages reviewed here. Providers price different methods and plans differently, and some public figures conflict. Compare written quotes using your own order values, payment mix and expected refunds.

Can I collect payment without a full website?

Payment links can be an option. Paymob and Kashier, for example, document link-based collection. You still need the provider’s approval and a clear way to associate each payment with the right order.

Can I open a live account as an individual?

Ask the provider about your exact activity and legal status. Creating a dashboard or test account is not proof that you are approved to collect and withdraw real money. Request the current eligibility and documentation requirements directly.

When should an order be marked paid?

After your store has verified the provider’s payment confirmation against the order and amount. A screenshot, a generated reference code or a browser redirect alone should not trigger fulfillment. A successful payment and a completed bank settlement should also remain separate records.

Choose the gateway that makes the whole journey dependable: customer payment, order confirmation, refunds and the final money received. That is a more useful definition of “best” than the longest feature list.