How agencies in Egypt get paid by clients and fund ad accounts
Five clients, five ad accounts, one card. That setup works until the card declines on a Friday night and five campaigns pause at once. It also means you often pay for a client's ads before the client has paid you.
Here's a cleaner way to run the money side of an agency in Egypt.
The rules Egyptian agencies run into
Limits per card. Egyptian banks set monthly foreign currency limits per card tier, and at some banks EGP debit and prepaid cards still can't be used for payments outside Egypt (Banque Misr usage limits, Sep 2026). Limits eased in August 2025, with some banks allowing up to USD 10,000 (Business Today Egypt, 13 Aug 2025). With several clients, one card's limit can run out mid-month.
Fees. Major banks charge a 3% FX fee on credit card payments in foreign currency, down from 5% since August 2025 (Business Today Egypt, 13 Aug 2025). On USD 20,000 of client spend a month, that's USD 600.
VAT. Meta and Google add 14% VAT to Egyptian ad accounts that haven't added both a Tax Registration Number and a Unique Identification Number (Google Ads Help; Meta Business Help). If your agency is VAT-registered, add both numbers to every ad account you pay for.
Get paid first, in USD
Ask clients to pay the ad budget up front, separately from your fee, into USD account details. US clients pay by ACH. UK and European clients can pay to a GBP or EUR IBAN.
With nsave, receiving has a 0% fee and the money stays in USD. To set up account details, see How to get an ACH as a freelancer from Egypt.
Fund the ad accounts from the same balance
Add your nsave USD Visa card as the payment method on each client ad account.
- 0% fee on USD charges.
- 1% to 1.5% FX fee if the ad account bills in EGP or another currency.
- No card limits.
For accounts you control, set them up to bill in USD. Here's how to decide.
Keep client spend apart from your margin
- Invoice the ad budget and your management fee as separate lines.
- You'll use one nsave card across all client ad accounts, so track spend per client from each platform's billing page, not from your card statement.
- Reconcile monthly: budget received, spend charged, balance carried over or refunded.
- Keep a week of spend per client as a buffer so a slow payer doesn't stop their own campaign.
How you invoice and record client ad budgets for tax depends on your business structure. Ask an accountant.
What this fixes, and what it doesn't
It removes the double conversion and the cash you were fronting. It doesn't change how Meta, Google or TikTok review payments. See Facebook ads payment failed in Egypt? for platform-side issues.
For the full calculation, read Get paid in USD in Egypt? What converting twice costs your ad budget.
FAQ
Can I run several clients' ad accounts on one nsave card?
Yes. There are no card limits, and the ad platforms generally let you add the same card to more than one ad account.
Should the client or the agency own the ad account?
Most agencies prefer the client to own it and give the agency access. Agree ownership and payment in your contract.
Do I need a business account?
Not to get started. If you invoice as a company, look at nsave business accounts.
