A subsidiary of EFG Hermes Holding’s Non-Bank Financial Institutions (NBFI) platform established in December 2017, valU is the MENA region’s leading Buy-Now, Pay-Later (BNPL) fintech platform offering convenient and customizable financing plans up to 60 months. With more than 5,000 points of sale and over 330 websites, valU offers access to a wide network of retail, service and e-commerce providers across a diverse array of categories including home appliances, electronics, home finishing, furniture, residential solar solutions, healthcare, education, travel, and fashion, and numerous others. As the first platform of its kind in the MENA region, valU customers are able to receive instant credit decisions and gain access to the ever-growing platform’s partners. valU disrupted the fintech space by offering efficient and swift financing for both banked and unbanked customers. valU’s launch is part of EFG Hermes Holding’s wider strategy to promote nationwide financial inclusion through digital intermediation, in line with national development strategies to move to a cashless society.

valU made tremendous progress throughout the year, having not only brought to market several innovative and disruptive financing solutions, but forging and building partnerships to expand its scope of services and merchants. As a result, valU witnessed outstanding growth on all key metrics, seeing over 96,000 transacting customers and over 450,000 transactions completed through the app. With an average ticket size of EGP 5,024 (+2.4x Y-o-Y) and an average of five transactions per customer (+2.3x Y-o-Y), valU ended the year having financed a total of EGP 2.3 billion, up 2.4x compared to figures reported in 2020. Today, valU is ranked second in the consumer financing space in Egypt with a significant 20%+ market share.

Throughout the year, valU received several accolades that were a testament to its swift development as a leader in the industry. It was recognized as the Fintech Company of the Year at Entrepreneur Middle East’s Tech Innovation Awards 2021, as well as, Fintech company of the Year at the Gulf Business Tech Awards 2021, in addition to, winning Best Buy-Now, Pay-Later platform at the Leaders in Fintech Awards 2021 by Entrepreneur Middle East. valU also ranked 5th on Forbes Middle East's Top Fintech apps in the Middle East 2021.

In 2021, valU extended its services to new key sectors, such as travel, through a partnership with EgyptAir in collaboration with PayTabs Egypt, allowing travelers to afford both domestic and local travel. Another key partnership forged this year was with Misr Insurance Company, allowing clients to benefit from convenient installment plans with an eye toward making insurance more accessible to a wider range of customers as part of valU’s efforts to boost financial inclusion, and in turn, social impact. It also further cemented its offerings in the healthcare space, partnering with Saudi German Hospital (SGH), the first and only healthcare facility in Africa to become a member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network, to offer convenient financing plans for SGH’s patients across all medical services.

At the same time, valU expanded its partnership network in key sectors throughout the year, onboarding Jumia, one of the key online marketplaces in the region, and began talks to partner with leading e-commerce player, noon that went live in November 2021. As part of the efforts to expand its footprint in the real estate space, the company partnered with SODIC, offering convenient financing plans for potential Club S members at the SODIC East, SODIC West, and Allegria branches of the club. valU also partnered with Misr Italia Properties, providing clients with its home improvement financing solutions. valU also grew its partner network in the education space, working with the American University in Cairo’s (AUC) School of Business to offer convenient financing and affordable installment plans for individuals seeking to pursue the school’s undergraduate and executive education programs. valU also added more new retail partners to the roster, including Lulu Hypermarket, Azadea.

Visibility and brand equity also skyrocketed once valU was able to execute promotions and campaigns at the mall level, not only stores and brands. These campaigns allowed the company to benefit from the high footfall at malls and, in turn, to provide the malls with data insights on the purchase behavior of customers. Some of these malls include Mall of Arabia, Mall of Egypt, Cairo Festival City, and City Stars, to name a few. Furthermore, as part of valU’s plan to expand into more governorates, it launched a strategic partnership with MARAKEZ’s Mall of Tanta that saw valU offer its BNPL services to shoppers.

valU introduced ‘Sha2labaz’, a first-of-its-kind redemption program available exclusively for shoppers at MARAKEZ’s flagship Mall of Arabia. The program allowed customers to receive cash reimbursements equivalent to the purchases made in cash, credit or debit cards, or through other BNPL and payment solutions subject to their approved valU limit. This unique product permitted valU to access merchants that are not part of its network, including international merchants and others such as utility payments. Additionally, through youth financing program, ‘Ma3ak’, valU was able to target the age group between 18 and 21, making it the only player offering a credit line to this age bracket. The program onboarded 3,000 students after the pilot phase, and it will continue to work towards financial inclusion for this group through promoting financial literacy.

Another key factor in the company’s success this year was its ability to leverage partnerships across the Group’s different lines of business. valU partnered with EFG Hermes Holding’s other NBFI platforms, mainly PayTabs Egypt and EFG Hermes Corp-Solutions. These partnerships enhanced synergies across the Firm’s NBFI platform and promoted cross-selling opportunities by utilizing its multitude of services to provide clients and partners alike with comprehensive financing solutions. The partnership with EFG Hermes Corp-Solutions is available to merchants who have worked with valU for over one year, offering eligible partners access to finance with a pre-approved limit ranging from EGP 50,000 to EGP 10 million. With PayTabs Egypt acting as the payment aggregator in partnerships with EgyptAir, Inertia, and Lulu Hypermarket, this lent further attraction to a collaboration with valU to clients.

In terms of marketing efforts, valU carried out its first celebrity advertising campaign this year. This successful promotion created a dramatic effect in the figures, with a 40% pickup in daily run rates. Another successful campaign launched by valU was early access to Black Friday promotions in November. This move resulted in a dramatic uptick in transactions – signifying a 200.6% increase in transactions compared to November 2020 and a 151% increase from October 2021 to November 2021.

valU’s total operating revenues (offsetting interest expense on bank facilities) hit EGP 302 million in 2021 compared to EGP 111 million in 2020.

In the coming year, valU will seek to further develop its operational synergies and cross-selling opportunities with partners across the Group, including PayTabs Egypt and EFG Hermes Corp-Solutions, among others. This will serve to provide value-added services to valU’s merchants by granting them access to immediate liquidity, largely through EFG Hermes Corp-Solutions’ factoring arm, as well as supporting them in expanding their business ventures. It will also capitalize on its relationship with PayTabs Egypt, having already laid the groundwork to forge a partnership between the BNPL player, payment gateway, and Mazadat — the first X2C online-offline auctioning and e-commerce marketplace in the MEA region.

valU is also planning to expand its regional footprint in the year ahead, replicating the success it has seen in its home market in others with similar underlying fundamentals. The company is in the final stages of launching its offering in Saudi Arabia in 2022, while simultaneously eyeing additional markets. The company is also currently working on expanding into more governorates in Egypt outside of Cairo, Giza, and Alexandria, with plans in the works to launch the service in Mansoura through a partnership with a flagship mall in the area.

valU’s flagship stores are now set to launch, signifying a shift from the booth structures it currently employs to offer a bespoke set of service offerings in-store as well as boost visibility and adoption in the market. Additionally, the company is looking to onboard more merchants in numerous other sectors, including leading e-commerce platform Amazon, as well as club membership financing in Al Ahly Sporting Club. At the same time, the company will also launch its Sha2labaz product more broadly, having already set in motion plans to launch it at Majid Al Futtaim’s anchor malls in Cairo.