Souhoola
Souhoola is Egypt's leading mobile-first BNPL and consumer finance platform, 99.7%-owned by Banque Misr, serving banked and unbanked consumers with installment plans across 3,500+ merchants spanning education, automotive, insurance, and general consumer purchases.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2019
- HeadquartersCairo, Egypt
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Souhoola does
Souhoola is an Egypt-based mobile-first Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) and consumer finance platform, licensed by the Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) and 99.7%-owned by Banque Misr, one of Egypt's largest state-owned banks. Founded in 2019 and operating under the legal entity Contact Investment for Consumer Finance, the company serves both banked and unbanked Egyptian consumers across a portfolio of installment products: U-LEARN (education financing for tuition and training), U-SAFE (car insurance installments), U-SHARE (family supplementary accounts), U-TURN (invoice-based cash advances up to EGP 50,000), and START (auto financing with 12-84 month terms up to EGP 7,000,000). The platform has accumulated 3M+ app downloads and a network of 3,500+ merchant partners across automotive, education, insurance, consumer goods, medical, and tourism verticals, supported by 24 physical activation points for in-person onboarding.
The underlying technology stack is a mobile-first consumer credit platform built around QR-code-based POS activation, digital identity verification, and a real-time "Instant Approval Engine" that assigns credit limits within minutes of registration. Credit limits extend up to EGP 500,000 for standard BNPL accounts, with payment settlement channels spanning Fawry, Aman, Bee, Instapay, Jumia Pay, Damen, Opay, and direct cards. The platform is PCI DSS certified and integrates with Visa for the forthcoming reloadable prepaid card product (approved February 2026), which extends the platform from closed-loop BNPL into general-purpose card payments with installment flexibility up to 60 months. Souhoola maintains no public APIs, no proprietary AI/ML models, and no patents, relying instead on integration partnerships with payment processors and the parent bank's infrastructure.
Souhoola monetises primarily through transaction-based admin fees on each BNPL installment, with the rate varying by merchant and product line. Additional revenue streams include interest/finance charges on the START auto loan portfolio, penalising fees (5% late-payment, 10% early-settlement), and ancillary document fees (clearance, liability, renewal, release letters). The go-to-market is product-led and direct-to-consumer via the iOS and Android apps, supplemented by merchant-side point-of-sale distribution and physical activation points; the prepaid card launches a bank-branch distribution channel through Banque Misr. Cumulative funding of approximately $22M across two rounds in late 2024 and late 2025 is supporting user acquisition, merchant onboarding, and the prepaid card buildout. Revenue, transaction volume, and credit loss metrics are not publicly disclosed, limiting external triangulation of unit economics.
Souhoola firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Souhoola
- Legal name
- Contact Investment for Consumer Finance
- Website
- https://souhoola.com/
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2019
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- Souhoola is Egypt's leading mobile-first BNPL and consumer finance platform, 99.7%-owned by Banque Misr, serving banked and unbanked consumers with installment plans across 3,500+ merchants spanning education, automotive, insurance, and general consumer purchases.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Souhoola industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Consumer Finance
- NAICS
- Consumer Lending (522291), Sales Financing (52222)
- SIC
- Personal Credit Institutions (6141)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Merchant-Integrated BNPL (Checkout POS Financing) (FSAGAIAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- BNPL Consumer Apps & Wallets (Discovery, Management) (FSAGAIAG), In-Store / In-Person BNPL (POS) (FSAKACAB)
Keywords
Where Souhoola is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Cairo
- HQ country
- Egypt
- HQ region
- Africa
Offices1 record
Markets served
Souhoola business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Supply Chain
Revenue model
- Installment Plan Admin Fees: Souhoola charges administrative fees on each installment transaction, with the fee amount varying by merchant and transaction type. The fee is paid as a one-time charge at the time of the purchase transaction. Cashback earned on transactions is applied to deduct admin fees on subsequent transactions.
- Car Financing (START Program): Provides car financing with repayment periods from 12 to 84 months for new and used vehicles through a network of partner car showrooms. Revenue generated from interest/finance charges on the loan principal, with maximum financing amount of EGP 7,000,000.
- Late Payment and Early Settlement Fees: Penalizing fees applied to customer accounts for late payments (5% late fee) and early loan settlement (10% early settlement fee), providing additional revenue streams on the outstanding loan portfolio.
- Education Financing (U-LEARN): Education installment plans covering tuition, school fees, university, and training courses with payments made directly to institutions or reimbursed to customers. Revenue from admin fees on each education financing transaction.
- Insurance Installment Plans (U-SAFE): Car insurance financing allowing customers to split insurance premiums into monthly installments, with payments directed to car insurance providers.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction based/ take rate | Monthly | BNPL Installment Plans — up to 60 months repayment with no down payment |
| Transaction based/ take rate | Monthly | START Car Financing — EGP 7,000,000 max, 12–84 month terms |
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | U-TURN Invoice Cash Advance — up to EGP 50,000 |
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Administrative Fees and Charges |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels6 records
Marketing channels6 records
Souhoola product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Souhoola is Egypt's leading BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later) and consumer finance platform, providing installment-based financing for purchases at over 3,500 merchant partners through a mobile-first app with QR code transactions. Its portfolio includes car financing (START), education financing (U-LEARN), car insurance installments (U-SAFE), invoice-based cash advances (U-TURN), supplementary family accounts (U-SHARE), and a reloadable prepaid card, serving both banked and unbanked Egyptian consumers.
Product overview
Souhoola is an Egyptian BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later) and consumer finance platform that offers a portfolio of installment and financing products. The core platform provides flexible payment solutions through its mobile app and merchant network, with individual products including U-LEARN (education financing), U-SAFE (car insurance installments), U-SHARE (family account sharing), U-TURN (invoice-based cash advances), START (car financing from 12-84 months), and a reloadable prepaid card. The platform processes transactions via QR code scanning at merchant POS terminals and offers real-time approval for credit decisions.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- START: Car financing program for personal vehicle purchases with repayment periods from 12 to 84 months through selected car showrooms in Egypt.
- U-LEARN
- U-SAFE
- U-SHARE
- U-TURN
Products and services
- U-LEARN (Education Financing) Education financing product that covers tuition, school fees, university, or training courses for individuals or their loved ones. Payments are made directly to educational institutions or reimbursed to the customer.
- U-SAFE (Car Insurance Installments) Car insurance installment plan that enables customers to split car insurance fees into flexible monthly installments, with direct and secure payments to insurance providers and fast approval with basic documents.
- U-TURN (Invoice-Based Cash Advance) Invoice-based cash advance service that unlocks money from invoices paid in the last 3 months, offering up to EGP 50,000 in flexible cash advances to existing Souhoola customers.
- START (Car Financing) Car financing program enabling customers to apply for vehicle financing with repayment periods from 12 to 84 months through a network of partner car showrooms in Egypt, for both new and used vehicles with fast approval.
- U-SHARE (Supplementary Family Account) Supplementary account offering that lets primary customers add a first-degree relative under their main Souhoola account and share up to 100% of their credit limit while maintaining spending control from one account.
- Souhoola Reloadable Prepaid Card Reloadable prepaid card combining prepaid functionality with installment flexibility up to 60 months, featuring instant activation, real-time in-app transaction tracking, advanced security standards, and wide acceptance via Visa's global payment network. Issued in partnership with Banque Misr, Visa, and Modupay.
Quantifiable outcome
- 3M+ app downloads demonstrating broad consumer adoption
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Souhoola
Customer profileSegments5 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Souhoola technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration9 records
Feature5 records
Souhoola partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered flagship / core and core.
- Visaflagship / coreVisa serves as the global payment network and security technology provider for Souhoola's reloadable prepaid card. The partnership leverages Visa's global acceptance network, security technologies, and payment infrastructure to enable the card's instant activation, wide merchant acceptance, and advanced security standards including real-time transaction monitoring and fraud protection.
- ModupaycoreModupay is the technical payment partner providing payment infrastructure for Souhoola's reloadable prepaid card. As the payment infrastructure provider, Modupay enables the technical integration between Souhoola's platform, Banque Misr's banking systems, and Visa's payment network, powering the card's reload functionality, transaction processing, and in-app controls.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Souhoola competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- valU: Egypt's leading BNPL platform, majority-owned by EFG Finance. Direct competitor offering installment plans across merchants with a comparable product suite to Souhoola in the Egyptian market.
- Sympl: Egyptian BNPL fintech offering pay-in-installments at merchant POS. Closely comparable business model and target customer base to Souhoola within Egypt.
- Khazna: Egyptian BNPL and consumer finance fintech providing installment plans to consumers via mobile app. Directly competes with Souhoola for the same Egyptian unbanked/underbanked customer segments.
- Lucky: Egyptian BNPL platform offering installment-based payments to consumers at the point of sale. Operates a similar merchant-integrated model in the Egyptian market.
Regional players
- Tabby: MENA's largest BNPL player headquartered in the UAE. Operates a similar merchant-integrated installment model across Gulf markets and is expanding into Egypt, making it a comparable MENA-scale BNPL peer.
- Tamara: Saudi Arabia-headquartered BNPL platform serving the Gulf and expanding regionally. Operates a comparable merchant-integrated BNPL model and represents a regional MENA competitive threat to Souhoola.
- Cashee: MENA-based BNPL and consumer finance platform operating across multiple regional markets. Comparable merchant-integrated BNPL business model in the broader MENA region.
Broad incumbents
- Fawry: Egypt's largest electronic payments network, listed on the EGX. Provides a broad bill-payment and digital payments platform that intersects with Souhoola's installment payment flow, and has expanded into consumer finance products.
- MNT-Halan: Egyptian fintech and lending platform providing consumer and SME credit, payments, and banking services. Overlaps with Souhoola in consumer finance and digital lending within Egypt.
Emerging players
- Telda: Egyptian digital banking and prepaid card fintech. Comparable in serving underbanked Egyptian consumers with a mobile-first card product, directly overlapping with Souhoola's prepaid card offering.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Souhoola social profiles
Digital presenceSouhoola compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Souhoola financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Souhoola leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Souhoola funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds3 records
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Souhoola M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Souhoola
What does Souhoola do?
Souhoola is Egypt's leading BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later) and consumer finance platform, providing installment-based financing for purchases at over 3,500 merchant partners through a mobile-first app with QR code transactions. Its portfolio includes car financing (START), education financing (U-LEARN), car insurance installments (U-SAFE), invoice-based cash advances (U-TURN), supplementary family accounts (U-SHARE), and a reloadable prepaid card, serving both banked and unbanked Egyptian consumers.
Is Souhoola a public or private company?
Souhoola is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Souhoola founded?
Souhoola was founded in 2019. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is Souhoola based?
Souhoola is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt, in the Africa region.
How does Souhoola make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Installment Plan Admin Fees are the primary driver. The others are car Financing (START Program), late Payment and Early Settlement Fees, education Financing (U-LEARN) and insurance Installment Plans (U-SAFE).
Who are Souhoola's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are valU, Sympl, Khazna and Lucky. Regional players are Tabby, Tamara and Cashee. Broad incumbents are Fawry and MNT-Halan. Telda is listed as an emerging player.
Does Souhoola have an API?
No public API is recorded for Souhoola.
What industry is Souhoola in?
Souhoola's product category is Consumer Finance. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSAGAIAA, Merchant-Integrated BNPL (Checkout POS Financing), with a secondary code of FSAGAIAG, BNPL Consumer Apps & Wallets (Discovery, Management). Its NAICS code is 522291 and its SIC code is 6141.