Dubai eGovernment to team up with the banks to introduce Online Direct Debit

In a strategic step in this direction, Dubai eGovernment recently held a for a meeting with the major banks in the UAE ,the Central Bank and Comtrust, to discuss the Central Bank's proposal for using it's ATM Switch for Online Direct Debit for people-to-government transactions, including payment of utility bills and renewal of licences, health cards and work permits.

'Dubai eGovernment is working on different fronts to make the electronic services more user-friendly in line with the directives of H.H. General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to provide easy payment solutions to the people,' said Salem Al Shair, Director e-Services, Dubai e-Government. 'The Online Direct Debit facility will be a unified Net-based payment system through the portal www.dubai.ae allowing direct debit from the personal account of the consumer to the Dubai eGovernment account. It will be one of the payment options for online users and we are devising a strategy that will make it a fully secure and quick mode of payment'

'The UAE banks, which have demonstrated an impressive maturity in adopting innovative programmes for consumers, have responded enthusiastically to Online Direct Debit. This face-to-face meeting with the banks gave us an opportunity to drive home the advantages of the system as well as listen to their suggestions and concerns so that the consumer can get the best possible service,' added Al Shair. 'The various government departments too have shown a highly proactive approach in preparing themselves to migrate to innovative payment modes and offer the public integrated services through the Dubai eGovernment portal.'

Under Dubai e-Government's Online Direct Debit system, consumers will be required to make a written request to their banks authorizing Dubai eGovernment to debit directly from their personal accounts, through a centralized system, namely the UAE Central Bank Switch, which controls the ATM transactions.

Banking professionals who attended the briefing supported Dubai e-Government's initiatives to give consumers wider payment options and expressed their strong support to Online Direct Debit.

'The proposal to make use of the available UAE Switch for Dubai e-Government's Online Direct Debit has found favour with most banks, but we are also exploring other alternatives,' said Asem Fikree, Manager e-Banking Systems, IT Department, Commercial Bank of Dubai. 'We would favour the UAE Switch system for direct debit since it is fast and credible and routed through the Central Bank, unlike international credit cards that have to go through a global network. We would like to pledge all our support to this system.'

Mohamed Ali Musabbeh Al Nuaimi, Senior Manager, Business Development & Planning, National Bank of Dubai, said: 'The Online Direct Debit system of Dubai eGovernment will be a pioneering service regionally and globally. All banks should lend their support to this project so that they can provide a secure service to their clients and facilitate an easy and cash-less transaction. We welcome the proposed adoption of the UAE Switch system to enable direct debit from a client's personal account to the Dubai eGovernment account.'

E. S. Venkat, Vice President & Product Head, e-Business, Gulf Levant & Pakistan Region, Citibank, commented: 'The Online Direct Debit is a major initiative that matches the principal status acquired by Dubai. This image will be consolidated when the full scope of Dubai eGovernment is unfolded. We are happy to associate ourselves with the new initiative, as Citibank has been a pioneer in providing Internet-based financial transactions.'

Dubai eGovernment will be conducting further such discussions with UAE banks to fine-tune the system and arrive at a consensus to evolve the most user-friendly and secure payment option for online government transactions.

'We would like to thank the UAE Central Bank for supporting the initiative,' said Al Shair. 'We also welcome the suggestions made by the different banks, many of whom have responded very positively to the proposal. We are confident that the interest shown by the banks will contribute significantly in raising the standards of the Dubai eGovernment services to match those of the highly developed countries.'

ends