Ministry of Finance signs agreement with Ajman Bank to market and sell e-Dirham cards

In doing so they will be joining numbers of other financial institutions that provide e-Dirham cards across the UAE. The Bank, which officially launched operations last month, will now be able to offer e-dirham cards to public and private sector clients, facilitating payments and revenue collection with Government through the Ministry of Finance's central network.

Being the first bank in Ajman to provide this service, in addition to the e-guarantee provisions agreed recently, strengthen Ajman Bank's offer, benefitting clients, investors and shareholders. This makes it one of the first banks in Ajman to offer the e-dirham system, and the first to offer the service from Ajman government premises.

The agreement was signed in a formal ceremony by Ajman Bank's Head of Government Business, Salem Al Shamsi and Khalid Ali Al-Bustani, the Ministry of Finance's Executive Director of Revenue & Budget. The ceremony was also attended by representatives from both parties, including the Department of Revenue Director Faisal Ali Mansuri, project management advisor Imad Ahmed Abdal Wahab, Projects Management Consultant, Mona Ali Almulla, Tech Support Supervisor and Samir Mattar Attalla, Chief Accountant, in addition to Ajman Bank senior management including Head of Retail Banking Group, Maruf Masror, Division Head of Corporate & Institutional Banking, Hesham Mohamed Youssef, and Khalifa Branch Manager, Khalid Al Hosani.

The UAE-wide e-Dirham system was launched in 2001 marking the UAE as a hub for the IT innovation. It replaced previous revenue collection systems such as governmental stamps or receipts, eliminating the need for direct cash handling. By becoming involved in the system, Ajman Bank will now be able to offer its clients a safe and highly protected system through which to pay government fees more easily.

The Ministry of Finance's Executive Director of Revenue & Budget Khalid Al Bustani commented that the expansion of the e-Dirham services comes as part of the Ministry's plans to develop modern technology-based means of collecting revenues and fees. The Ministry, along with the wider federal government, consider customer satisfaction one of the most important aims and outcomes of closer public and private sector working, making continuous improvement of the services being provided to organizations working with the Ministry and other government agencies a priority.

Al Bustani added that the e-dirham system has witnessed remarkable growth since its arrival in the market.

"E-Dirham has succeeded in becoming the modern, safe alternative to manual collection and plays an active role in the application of automated financial control systems helping senior managers measure performance and make decisions. It has also allowed the ministries and other governmental agencies and bodies the opportunity to focus more on services than mere delivery and collection of fees"

Following the signing, Ajman Bank's Head of Government Business, Salem Al Shamsi commented, "In bringing e-Dirham to Ajman, our Bank will deliver further value to the local public and private sector community and our growing client base. We have worked with some of the best service providers in the international market to ensure we can offer our customers what they need in the most effective way possible and we

would certainly consider the Ministry of Finance and its e-Dirham among them. This is yet another first for us, being Ajman's first Islamic commercial bank, and we look forward to bringing new levels of services and products to the market as we grow."