Dubai eGovernment in association with Dubai Municipality, Etisalat and Commercial Bank of Dubai today announced the launch of its Direct Debit payment system aimed at facilitating direct debit payments capitalizing on Internet banking channels. Account holders from Commercial Bank of Dubai can now pay for all eGovernment services through Direct Debit in real time with immediate updation in their records.
The launch of Direct Debit is an important evolution in the online payment scenario in UAE and will lead to a quantum jump in increasing online payment transactions for government institutions and large corporates through extension of B2B and C2B payment transactions utilizing the existing IT infrastructure of banks.
According to Salem al-Shair, eServices Director, Dubai eGovernment, “Direct Debit aligns perfectly with Dubai eGovernment's vision to offer innovative options for online payment solutions for businesses and people transacting with the Government.”
"We look forward to working with farsighted partners like Dubai Municipality, which is not only the number one department in terms of the total number of eServices and the number one department in the total revenues collected electronically through ePay, but also, was the first to adopt and implement the new Direct Debit service. We know that Etisalat’s varied experience and its massive customer base will ensure the success of this project, while the Commercial Bank of Dubai, in line with its reputation as the leading bank in the region was the first to support, adopt and promote ePay banking solutions," added Al Shair.
The Direct Debit solution is part of Dubai eGovernment’s ePay initiative and is based on Etisalat’s proven and secure payments platform. It facilitates direct debit payments for businesses from their accounts, through self-initiated, bank-authenticated online banking channels, using the standard Internet banking infrastructure of banks.
Payments can be initiated by the customer online through the service provider web site and the final authentication will be carried out by the bank online.
Hussain Nasser Lootah, Acting Director General of Dubai Municipality said, “The Direct Debit will help us realize our much awaited goal of “zero visits”, since many of our corporate customers can perform their transactions completely online. We recently recorded our two millionth online transaction and collected over AED 24 million, showing how successful the ePay system is.
Abdulla Hashim, Assistant General Manager, eCompany, Etisalat said, "One of Etisalat’s prime objective in extending customer convenience has been to eliminate over the counter payments as much as possible. The Direct Debit solution is a direct outcome of that vision to empower users and service providers through such a versatile and convenient online payment service and we are in the process of expanding the service even further with more banks and service providers throughout the UAE.”
Mr. Mahmood Hadi, General Manager-Systems and Operations, Commercial Bank of Dubai said, “We are pleased to be the first bank to associate with Dubai eGovernment in this venture and our strategy is in line with their pioneering initiatives which are aimed at providing many convenience tools that will benefit our customers.”
Dubai eGovernment and Etisalat is currently in testing mode on Direct Debit with other major banks including Emirates Bank, National Bank of Dubai, National Bank of Abu Dhabi and Mashreqbank and are committed towards ePayment tools that will ease the lives of citizens, residents and businesses in the UAE.
Dubai eGovernment is a pioneering initiative in the region to provide online services across the spectrum of corporate and community life in the emirate. It also has a vision to integrateindividually automated government departments under the single umbrella of the eGovernment initiative, thus empowering employees across lines of businesses and levels of government, besides facilitating the lives of citizens and customers of the government. Dubai has taken a lead in the region in deploying eGovernment applications and is among the first few governments in the world to provide such integrated services to its citizens. The eGovernment portal (www.dubai.ae) is a single contact point masking the complexity of the bureaucratic procedures, and guiding access to all services in the easiest possible way. In addition, the eGovernment initiative seeks to improve and enhance procedures by maximizing the benefit from technology, so that users from all walks of life will be able to utilize the portal for their specific needs with considerable ease.
