Egypt's Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) has approved BM Consumer Finance, which operates as Souhoola, to conduct consumer finance activities using financial technology through V-Lens. Souhoola is the consumer finance arm of Banque Misr. V-Lens is registered with the FRA as an outsourcing provider of fintech services, including electronic identification, verification, and authentication, for companies in the non-banking financial sector.
Application filed before the licensing pause
The approval comes despite a temporary freeze on new applications in this segment. In February 2026, the FRA issued Resolution No. 43, which suspended for one year the acceptance of applications to establish companies and obtain licences to conduct consumer finance activities using fintech. Souhoola had submitted its application before the resolution was issued, and the regulator approved it on that basis.
The decision was one of six approvals issued by the FRA’s committee responsible for reviewing applications to use fintech in non-banking financial activities. The other approvals covered securities custody and trading, SME financing, and fintech outsourcing services.
Four areas covered by the licence
The licence covers four areas of fintech use in consumer finance: electronic identification, verification, and authentication; electronic customer identification; the electronic execution of contracts for non-banking financial products; and the electronic registration, storage, and retrieval of digital records. Together, these allow Souhoola to verify customer identities, complete contractual procedures, and manage records digitally, in line with applicable regulatory requirements.
Souhoola expects the approval to help it streamline procedures across the customer journey, from identity verification to electronic contract execution. Ahmed El Shanawany, CEO of Souhoola, said the company is working to diversify its financing solutions and the way they are delivered, in line with the needs of the Egyptian market and the development of the consumer finance sector. He added that adopting digital solutions is essential to improving the efficiency of financial services and expanding access to them.
The approval also fits the company's plans to diversify its financing services and develop its operational and digital capabilities. It comes as the FRA extends the use of fintech across several segments of Egypt's non-banking financial services market, while setting limits on new market entrants in consumer finance.
