What Damen does

Damen is an Egyptian electronic payment company founded in 2018 and operating commercially since 2020, headquartered in Egypt as a subsidiary of Smart Digital Services. It operates one of the largest electronic payment networks in the country, with more than 100,000 merchant point-of-sale (POS) terminals and service points distributed across all 27 Egyptian governorates, supported by 26 branch offices. The platform offers more than 600 distinct electronic payment services spanning bill payment, government subsidy distribution, utility payments, insurance premium collection, and broader financial inclusion use cases targeted at Egypt's underbanked population. In April 2024, the company launched Damen Cash, a mobile wallet application, followed by NFC functionality in October 2024.

Damen's customer base is split approximately 60% private sector and 40% government. Notable commercial relationships include partnerships with Luxor Water and Giza Water for utility collection, Misr Insurance for premium payment processing, and integrations with international payment providers Contact Pay and BKN301. The company holds an estimated 7% share of Egypt's digital payments market, ranking fourth or fifth nationally. It benefits from the wider Smart Digital Services infrastructure, which serves more than 20 million Egyptian citizens through government subsidy smart cards.

The company's revenue model combines transaction fees on processed payment volume, sales of POS hardware to merchants, and value-added services. Processed transaction volume grew from LE 2.75 billion in 2020 to LE 6.25 billion in 2021, and an estimated LE 12 billion by 2022. This transaction volume growth, combined with the scale of the physical network and breadth of service catalog, forms the core of Damen's value proposition to both merchants and end consumers in Egypt's payments ecosystem.

Name

Damen

Legal name

Damen epayment

Website

https://damen.com.eg

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Damen is an Egyptian electronic payment company operating 100,000+ POS terminals across all 27 governorates, offering 600+ payment services including bill payment, utility, and insurance transactions. It launched a mobile wallet, Damen Cash, in 2024.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Electronic Payment Processing

NAICS

Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (52232)

akta.pro primary industry

Digital Payments & Money Movement (ACH/SEPA/FPS, Bill Pay, P2P) (FSAGAAAF)

Keywords

• Electronic payment services
• Bill payment kiosks
• POS payment network
• Mobile wallet
• Payment processing

Headquarters

HQ city

Gîza

HQ country

Egypt

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Transaction Fees on Payments: Damen earns revenue through transaction fees taken per payment processed at its POS kiosks and merchant locations. The company shares profits with merchants and bill-issuing entities, functioning as a take-rate model across bill payments, donations, mobile recharge, and government services.
2. POS Machine Rental/Sale to Merchants: Merchants purchase or lease POS machines from Damen to accept electronic payments. The company provides the hardware, encrypted network, and transaction processing infrastructure. Insurance deposit is required when purchasing a Damen machine.
3. Value-Added Services: Damen provides white-label or branded payment solutions to billers (utilities, insurance companies, government entities) and earns fees for collection and payment processing services. 60% of business is directed to private sector and 40% to government services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Damen operates an extensive nationwide electronic payment network of 100,000+ POS machines and self-service kiosks across Egypt, complemented by the Damen Cash mobile wallet application. The company processes over 600 electronic payment services including utility bills, mobile recharge, donations, insurance premiums, school/university fees, government fees, and installment collections. It serves as a payment aggregator connecting consumers, merchants, utility companies, government entities, and financial institutions through encrypted transaction infrastructure.

Product overview

Damen is a single unified e-payment platform offering a comprehensive range of electronic payment and collection services in Egypt. The core product consists of a network of POS machines and kiosks, supplemented by the Damen Cash mobile application launched in April 2024. The company provides over 600 electronic payment services including bill payments, mobile recharge, donations, and installment collections through its physical retail network and digital channels. Damen operates as an aggregator platform connecting consumers, merchants, utility companies, government services, and financial institutions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Damen Cash: Mobile wallet application for digital payments launched in April 2024, featuring NFC technology for gas bill payments.

Products and services

• Damen POS Machines and Kiosks Damen's primary payment infrastructure: POS machines and self-service kiosks distributed across Egypt at retail and merchant locations, enabling electronic bill payments, mobile recharge, donations, government fees, insurance premiums, and cashless transactions. Some machines support meter reading input, partial bill payment, and invoice printing.
• Damen Cash Mobile App (ضامن كاش) Mobile wallet application enabling direct consumer payments for electricity, water, and landline phone bills; mobile recharge; game credits; university fees; installment payments; donations; and quick payment operations. Features NFC contactless technology for gas bill payments.
• Electronic Payment Services Portfolio Over 600 electronic payment services including utility bill payments (electricity, gas, water), mobile and landline recharge, school and university fees, donations to charities, installment payments, government service fees, insurance premiums, gaming credits, and flight bookings.

Quantifiable outcome

• Processed LE 12 billion in transactions by 2022, growing from LE 2.75B in 2020
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• مصر للتأمين (Misr Insurance)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 August 2024Cooperation protocol signed August 2024 enabling Misr Insurance to collect insurance premiums through Damen's payment channels, POS kiosks, and digital solutions. Signed in presence of Omar Gouda (CEO of Misr Insurance) and Qasem Nassar (Assistant CEO). Expands insurance premium collection to Damen's 100,000+ merchant network across Egypt.
• Contact Pay (كونتكت)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 26 May 2024Strategic partnership announced May 26, 2024 between Damen and Contact Pay (subsidiary of Contact Financial Holding). Damen acts as Contact Pay's on-the-ground collection arm, leveraging its 100,000+ POS kiosks to expand Contact's geographic reach and customer base. Contact Pay benefits from Damen's extensive retail network, while Damen leverages Contact's experience to expand services. CEO Sameh Elmallah expressed enthusiasm for partnering with the leading player in Egypt's electronic payment landscape.
• مياه الأقصر (Luxor Water Company)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 21 February 2024Cooperation protocol signed February 21, 2024 between Damen and Luxor Water Company to facilitate electronic bill payment services. Damen provides POS kiosks capable of meter reading input, partial bill payment, and invoice printing. The service will be available on all Damen machines across Egypt. Signed in presence of Eng. Ahmed Mohamed Ramadan (CEO of Luxor Water) and Eng. Sameh Elmallah (CEO of Damen). Part of Egypt's digital transformation and electronic payment strategy.
• Smart Digital Services (الشركة الأم)coreTechnology or Integration · 1 February 2024Smart Digital Services is Damen's parent company and technology provider. It has executed large-scale projects including managing the distribution of subsidized goods and bread to approximately 20 million citizens daily using smart cards. This parent relationship provides Damen with proven payment infrastructure technology and government project expertise.
• مياه الشرب بالجيزة (Giza Water Company)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 December 2023Cooperation agreement signed December 20, 2023 between Giza Water Company and Damen for electronic bill payment and prepaid water meter card recharge. Witnessed by Eng. Medhat Rouslan (Chairman of the Holding Company for Water and Wastewater) and Dr. Tamer Al-Hussainy (CEO of Damen). Part of Egypt 2030 digital transformation strategy. Enables water bill payment and meter recharge via Damen POS kiosks using cash or bank cards.
• BKN301 GroupcoreTechnology or Integration · 14 August 2023Long-standing technology partnership between Damen and BKN301 Group (London-based digital payments and Banking-as-a-Service provider for MENA). Jointly developed the Damen Cash mobile wallet app (launched April 2024) and integrated NFC payment technology for gas bill payments. Damen Cash NFC feature unveiled at Seamless North Africa 2024. BKN301 operates in EMEA with offices in Cairo, Tbilisi, Doha, and Milan. Stiven Muccioli, Founder and CEO of BKN301, emphasized the partnership's role in driving financial inclusion in MENA.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• MNT-Halan: Egyptian fintech serving unbanked and underbanked consumers with lending, payments, and wallet products via a large agent network. Comparable audience and Egyptian financial-inclusion thesis, with broader credit adjacency than Damen's pure payments focus.
• MoneyFellows: Egyptian digital ROSCA/peer-lending fintech that also offers bill payments and consumer finance in the same underbanked demographic. Comparable in Egypt fintech serving consumers with thin/no banking access.
• valU: Egyptian consumer-finance/BNPL provider whose installments Damen already collects at its POS network. Comparable in Egyptian consumer financial-services space; an existing integration partner rather than a direct channel competitor.
• Telda: Egyptian mobile-first neobank and payments app. Comparable in targeting Egyptian consumers with digital wallet/payment functionality; more mobile-native versus Damen's POS-anchored model.

Direct peers

• Paymob: Egyptian payment infrastructure provider serving merchants and SMBs with online/in-person acceptance and a developer-friendly gateway. Comparable in serving Egyptian SMBs and consumers with payment aggregation services, though more digital-API-focused than Damen's physical POS model.
• Contact Pay: Subsidiary of Contact Financial Holding and Damen's named strategic partner. Overlapping electronic-payments services in Egypt; the two firms' partnership (Damen as Contact's on-the-ground collection arm) confirms head-to-head product overlap.
• Fawry: Egypt's largest electronic payments platform with a national bill-payment and merchant network. Most directly comparable in product (bill aggregation, mobile wallet, POS) and target customer (underbanked Egyptian consumers and SMB merchants); Damen is a sub-scale challenger to Fawry.
• Khazna: Egyptian fintech offering buy-now-pay-later and bill-payment installment products targeting underbanked consumers. Directly comparable in serving the same Egyptian financial-inclusion segment with installment-based bill payments (similar to Damen's ValU/Sympl integration).

Broad incumbents

• Network International: Largest payment processor across the MENA region, offering merchant acquiring and digital payment infrastructure. Comparable in payments processing and POS infrastructure across emerging markets, but serving the broader region rather than Egypt-only.
• eFinance (eFinance Investment Group): Egyptian government-linked digital payments and collection network serving ministries, utilities, and B2B billers. Comparable in operating government/public-sector digital collection infrastructure in Egypt.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC5XwLdbR0ukhjp0mDbbRQ5Q
• Facebookfacebook.com/Damen.Epayment
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/damenepayment
• Instagraminstagram.com/damen.epayment/?hl=en

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Damen