eNovate and Cobi have announced a major partnership to embed AI-powered intelligence into Egypt's digital payment ecosystem. Supported by Mastercard’s Engage programme, this collaboration aims to transform how young Egyptians interact with financial services. The initiative will leverage Cobi's customer intelligence platform across eNovate's extensive digital payments network, heralding a new era of personalized finance.
A Strategic Move in a Booming Market
This partnership arrives as the MENA region solidifies its status as a global hub for financial innovation. The regional market for AI in financial services is projected to reach $4.7 billion by 2032, reflecting immense growth potential. With 85% of the population already using emerging payment methods, the demand for smarter financial infrastructure is at an all-time high.
Revolutionizing Youth Banking with Rize
The collaboration will initially focus on Rize, eNovate’s flagship digital wallet designed for the youth segment. Cobi’s intelligence layer will be integrated to power real-time personalization and deliver deep behavioral insights. This will enable a more dynamic and responsive user experience for young customers across Egypt, tailored to their specific financial habits and needs.
This integration provides financial institutions with unprecedented tools to understand consumer spending patterns and identify friction points. By analyzing user behavior, banks and fintechs can deploy timely product interventions to boost engagement. The ultimate goal is to drive customer activation, enhance loyalty, and increase long-term value through smarter interactions.
Building Egypt's First AI-Powered Payment Infrastructure
The initiative's scope extends far beyond a single application, aiming to cover eNovate’s entire digital payment portfolio. This will establish Egypt’s first large-scale AI-driven portfolio management infrastructure. The system is designed to serve eNovate's diverse client base, including banks, telcos, merchants, and government-linked entities.
At the heart of this transformation is Cobi’s advanced behavioral AI engine. The technology builds deep context on user engagement, identifies critical patterns, and recommends next-best-actions. This shifts the paradigm from simple transaction processing to a real-time, adaptive system that responds instantly to user needs and preferences.
Leadership Perspectives on the Collaboration
Nashwa Kamel, CEO of eNovate, stated that the partnership aligns with their mission to empower financial institutions with modern capabilities. She emphasized that integrating Cobi's intelligence will turn raw spend data into strategic insights. This will help clients optimize costs and make smarter, data-driven decisions for sustainable growth.
Darren Edmund, CEO of Cobi, described the collaboration as a fundamental shift in how digital payment infrastructure operates. He highlighted that embedding Cobi's intelligence layer enables institutions to personalize services at scale. This fosters deeper, longer-lasting customer relationships by creating systems that truly understand user behavior.
Future Outlook and Agentic Experiences
The partners have outlined a clear roadmap, with the initial deployment scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2026. Following the launch with the Rize app, there are ambitious plans for expansion. The technology will be rolled out across additional eNovate-powered platforms and into other regional markets.
Looking ahead, the collaboration aims to pioneer agentic payment experiences in the region. This futuristic concept involves AI autonomously recommending or initiating actions to improve users' financial outcomes. Such proactive capabilities signal a new era of intelligent and responsive financial services for consumers across Egypt.
The strategic alliance between eNovate and Cobi marks a significant milestone for Egypt's financial technology sector. By embedding advanced AI into the core of its payment ecosystem, the partnership is set to deliver highly personalized and intelligent financial experiences. This forward-thinking initiative not only enhances services for consumers but also positions Egypt at the forefront of digital finance innovation in the MENA region.