Dubai Transport taxis to accept payment by MasterCard cards beginning mid September

The initiative, which will begin September 15th, was conceived, evaluated for its technical alternatives and finalised by MasterCard International at its Middle East and North Africa headquarters located at Dubai Internet City in cooperation with Dubai Transport Co. (DTC), Mashreqbank, Computer Network System (CNS) and Golden Media Infix LLC (GMI).

"The team at MasterCard is pleased to have developed the first on-board electronic payments solution for taxis in the Middle East and North Africa Region. We see this new acceptance channel as part of our ongoing development into convenient and flexible ways for cardholders to use their MasterCard card everyday and everywhere," explained Mohamed Belarj, senior vice president and general manager, MasterCard International, Middle East and North Africa.

"We have worked closely with Dubai Transport Co., Mashreqbank and CNS to implement this payment system for cardholders that provides greater flexibility to residents and the 3 million annual visitors to Dubai. We also are pleased to support the Dubai Government's cashless society initiative, which encourages residents to use electronic payment options," continued Belarj.

A total of two hundred and forty airport and city taxis will be equipped to accept MasterCard cards. These vehicles will be easily recognised by their MasterCard branding.

"We are delighted to have been chosen to provide the custom built automotive card swipe terminals," said Steven Pinto, Head of Retail Banking Group, Mashreqbank. "With Dubai's emergence as the business centre of the Middle East as well as an increasingly popular tourist destination, giving visitors the opportunity to pay their taxi fares by card is yet another demonstration of Dubai's pioneering spirit. We are also delighted that this initiative will be in time for Dubai 2003 when Dubai will be on show to the world's financial elite."

"DTC is delighted to have worked with MasterCard on the implementation of this new and exciting project. Offering our customers the very best service is important to us at DTC. This provides our passengers with a choice of payment options and means that those arriving into the country at Dubai International Airport need not worry about having local currency before boarding one of our taxis while passengers in town can also benefit from the flexibility of using payment cards," said Mohammad Obaid Al Mulla, Director General, Dubai Transport Co.

"The project planning, implementation and deployment was done in a record time. We are very proud to be involved in this project with MasterCard that could add another unique differentiator to Dubai in becoming the prominent destination for business as well as leisure visitors from around the world" said Tony Alam, General Manager of Computer Network System, a leading UAE based systems integrator and reseller of Hypercom, the global payment technology leader, that delivered this state-of-the-art mobile payment solution.