Federal Ministries in the UAE have begun implementing the second generation of the E-Dirham within their entities as announced during a press conference held at the sidelines of the GITEX Technology Week 2011. The conference was held by the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) and was attended by officials from both entities. The announcement followed the launch of the G2 E-Dirham by Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum yesterday.
The conference commenced with HE Younis Haji Al Khouri, Undersecretary of MoF, extending his gratitude to HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum for launching the new system. HE Al Khouri expressed that HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum’s visit to the E-Dirham stand at GITEX marked an important milestone for the system.
During the conference, a documentary was shown which presented the different development stages of the G2 E-Dirham. It also shed light of the system’s various features and related services which allows users to utilize the new e-payment scheme when paying for services, whether governmental or other, through pre-paid cards or credit cards. The second generation of the E-Dirham will offer ATM machines allowing users to refill their cards at any time. It will also provide a range of technical support and customer-focused services, such as an electronic call centre, a comprehensive website for users to visit, an e-complaint system, and a web customer service portal.
HE Al Khouri explained that the development of the G2 E-Dirham system reflected MoF’s continuous effort to enhance government e-payment methods, and indicated that the new system provided an important step towards the achievement of MoF’s strategy in effectively managing financial resources.
“The G2 E-Dirham aims to provide a flexible e-payment system for government bodies in the UAE through offering secure channels to encourage customers to use credit cards and electronic transfers for payments. The news system allows customers to use this facility in paying for services pertaining to ministries, federal authorities, local governmental bodies and private entities,” HE Al Khouri said.
HE Saif Al Shehi, Senior General Manager of Domestic Banking Division at NBAD stressed on the importance of continuing to foster partnerships between the public and private sector due to the positive impact such joint efforts have presented for the economic development of the UAE.
“The National Bank of Abu Dhabi was chosen by the Ministry as a partner for launching the new G2 E-Dirham due to the innovative e-services offered by the bank, where the business world has shown a growing reliance on these facilitates.” HE Al Shehi added.
MoF and NBAD will also be launching an e-payment system for utility bills and e-commerce activities in the new phase of the E-Dirham, where users will also be able to complete payment transactions via mobile phone, single-use payment cards, and e-wallets.
