CashU Cards breaks e-commerce barriers in the Middle East

Already some of the biggest and emerging online destinations in the Arab Internet world and beyond, representing a diverse range of interests, are using cashU Cards as their preferred mode of online payment, highlighting the region's increasing prominence in this focused Internet segment, a top cashU Card official pointed out.

"With a membership base growing by an encouraging 1000 subscribers and 40 merchants per month, we can confidently say that cashU Card has reinvented online transactions in this region where traditional transactions could only target a limited market," explained Rami Araj, Distribution Manager for cashU Card.com (www.cashucard.com). "The positive response to cashU Card's benefits among the online shoppers has made it a respectable and fast-growing brand name in the region."

The cashU Card enables any business or consumer to securely, conveniently and cost-effectively send and receive payments online. The cashU Card network delivers a solution ideally suited for businesses that sell online, online merchants, individuals and others currently underserved by traditional payment mechanisms.

With a service that has extended to most countries in the Arab world, cashU Card is poised for growth, with the size of its network and widening acceptance helping cashU to become the preferred online transaction system. Araj added that while Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Syria and Egypt remained cashU Card's biggest markets, many users in many countries, including Iraq, are adopting it.

CashU Card is a novel e-commerce concept introduced by Maktoob.com, the largest and most popular online Arab community with more than 3.5 million registered users. In just one year of operation, cashU Card has already grown in popularity with online shoppers in the region who continuously seek flexible and safer ways of buying goods on the Internet without encountering the risks associated with credit cards. Working on the same principle as prepaid mobile cards, each cashU card has a unique card/account number that is refilled with money using cashU coupons.

Already popular websites such as Spacetoon (Children's TV Channel), tabz-card.com (e-cards), toparabic.com (online gaming website), Adabwafan.com (Arabic cultural products) and Bentelhalal.com (matrimonial services) have adopted and successfully implemented the cashU Card concept in their operations. Ahmed Ibrahim, General Manager of Bentelhalal.com, said that by incorporating cashU in their online transactions, his company was confident of facilitating customers' convenience by increasing the speed and security of their online purchases.

"Growing instances of online fraud through credit cards had made shoppers reluctant to order goods and services through the Internet," he explained. "By including cashU card in our service offering, we can not only target a large community of shoppers but also give shoppers the total confidence that their transactions are totally secure and fraud-free."

"It is a great opportunity for Adabwafan.com to be part of cashU merchant network, as this is a gateway to an important computer-literate Arab community we could not reach if we have not joined it," explained Nagi Tueni, Administrative Manager of Adabwafan.com. "It has improved our sales by far, as CashU cardholders were satisfied of the high quality payment security provided by cashU cards and from the services provided by Adabwafan.com as well."