UAE Ministry of Finance and Industry to offer e-Dirham services

The agreement was signed by H.E. Dr. Mohammed Khalfan Bin Kharbash, the UAE Minister of State for Financial and Industrial Affairs and H.E. Dr. Khalifa Mohammed Ahmed Sulaiman, Head of the Ruler's Court, who signed on behalf of Dubai e-Government.

The e-Dirham, a convenient payment tool devised by the ministry to facilitate collection of revenues and provide the government and the public with a secure payment method was launched about two years ago in the UAE.

The recent agreement between the Ministry of Finance and Dubai e-Government lays down the regulations by means of which the two government bodies will work together to incorporate the e-Dirham into the e-Government payment gateway, in order to ensure maximum benefit for the users. While the Ministry retains the authority to produce and distribute the e-Dirham cards and provide programs to link the e-Dirham with the payment gateway, Dubai e-Government will work towards the integration of these programs on their internal systems. The technology, including the telephone lines required to link the ministry's e-Dirham programs into the system, will be provided by Dubai e-Government, which will also upgrade and enhance the system periodically, in addition to overseeing its maintenance.

'This agreement between a Federal Ministry and Dubai e-Government to introduce a uniform and systematic mode of payment for e-services is a significant step in the UAE's move towards greater automation and is in keeping with the norms of the new economy,' said Dr Sulaiman. 'It is important that we are working together at this early stage to lay down the stringent regulations to extend the use of the e-Dirham for the payment of e-services offered by the government departments. This will enable us to formulate fool-proof policies and systems that will create transparency and trust among users.'

'This agreement to extend the use of the e-Dirham is a segment of the e-Pay system that was launched earlier by Dubai e-Government to facilitate secure online payments while conducting financial transactions via the Dubai e-Government portal www.dubai.ae, ' added Dr. Sulaiman. 'e-Pay, which is available on the Dubai e-Government portal gives users the option of making payment by credit card, e-Dirham, cheque or cash. We are extremely happy to be working together with the Federal Ministry of Finance and Industry as this will enable us to benefit from their vast experience of the country's financial systems and also add greater credibility to our enterprise.'

'The UAE is fast becoming one of the most wired states in the region with a high degree of Internet penetration and computer usage among the residents. As we move towards greater automation and use of the Internet for both business and individual purposes, it becomes imperative to devise uniform systems that are both dependable and secure,' said Dr. Kharbash. 'This agreement is the result of a crucial need to establish standardized systems that will enable people to conduct financial transactions with the government departments through secure and speedy electronic payment modes.'

The e-Dirham Cards that have been devised by the Ministry of Finance and Industry are equivalent to a secure electronic purse and are currently obtainable from various e-Dirham member banks in two formats. The fixed value non-rechargeable e-Dirham cards available in a number of denominations enable users to settle the fees for any one service applied for. In addition, the second-generation of e-Dirham or personalized government client cards enables frequent users of government services to pay for the various services availed. These cards are issued with a zero value loaded onto it. The card holder can have it filled with any amount of money either by paying cash or through account transfer from an e-Dirham Member Bank. A government client card is personalized and issued along with a PIN (Personal Identification Code) arriving in a secure envelope for the cardholder use only.