Egyptian Banks Temporarily Suspend Digital Services as Winter Time Begins

Several Egyptian banks announced a temporary suspension of their digital and electronic banking services from Thursday evening through early Friday morning, coinciding with the country’s switch from daylight saving time to winter time.

According to official bank statements, the interruption is part of routine technical maintenance to update internal systems and synchronize all electronic services, including mobile banking, internet banking, and ATM networks, with the new official time setting. 

The adjustments are aimed at ensuring data integrity, operational security, and seamless performance after the time change.

Bank officials confirmed that customer accounts and balances will not be affected by the update. Services are expected to gradually resume by early Friday morning, once system synchronization is complete.

Messages sent to customers indicated that the downtime would last up to five hours, beginning at 11:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 30 (summer time) and ending at 3:00 a.m. on Friday, October 31 (winter time).

Customers were also advised to ensure their devices are updated to the local time zone (GMT +2:00) before performing any online transactions requiring a one-time password (OTP), in order to avoid disruptions following the time shift.

The temporary suspension will impact most digital and card-based banking services, including: ATMs: Offline nationwide during the maintenance window.

Internet banking: Temporary halt to transfers, bill payments, and account tracking.

Mobile banking apps: Unavailable for transactions during the update period.

E-wallets: Deposits, withdrawals, and transfers suspended temporarily.

Online card payments: Debit and credit card transactions may face intermittent difficulties.

Egypt’s Cabinet of Ministers reintroduced seasonal time changes in 2023 under Law No. 34 of 2023, reinstating daylight saving and winter time adjustments. Under the law, clocks are set back one hour at midnight on the last Thursday of October each year.

The switch officially takes effect on Friday, a public holiday in most sectors, minimizing disruptions across businesses and public services during the national time adjustment.