UAE’s Ministry of Finance has launched self-service e-kiosks for e-Dirham transactions, on the sidelines of the Cards and Payments Middle East exhibition and conference, currently being held in Dubai, UAE.

The event being held at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre (DICEC), began yesterday (May 12) and will conclude later today.

Prominent institutions, companies and experts in the field of electronic payment systems are participating at the event.

Younis Al Khouri, undersecretary at the Ministry of Finance, said: “The launch of e-kiosks for self-service operations comes in the context of efforts exerted by the Ministry of Finance to upgrade the e-Dirham system to facilitate and support the remarkable increase in electronic transactions over the past years.”

A number of key transactions can be conducted using e-kiosks, including: purchase and recharge of e-Dirham cards; payment of service fees for public services; and get e-vouchers as an alternative to plastic cards. E-kiosks also allow clients the facility of inquiring about their card balance, and of reviewing their transaction statements, said the statement.

As many as 10 e-kiosks will be deployed in the first phase at ministries and institutions. All e-kiosks have advanced security systems, including state of the art cameras, to ensure the safety of operations, it said.

Since the launch of the second generation (G2) of the e-Dirham system in coordination with the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) in 2011, more than 70 million e-services of the Federal Government have been offered under the umbrella of safe and secure payment processing and collecting and settling the revenues electronically.

About 1.3 million ‘Al Haslah’ e-Dirham cards are currently in use across more than 5,000 point-of-sale and electronic collection machines throughout the country.

Saif Al Shehhi, senior managing director – Abu Dhabi Government and VVIP Clients for NBAD, said: “NBAD is keen to strengthen its partnership with the Ministry of Finance through upgrading the e-Dirham system.”

“The e-kiosk initiative is undoubtedly a significant advance, as it facilitates a lot of transactions for clients in institutions and ministries, and allows them to deal with these entities more frequently and safely,” he said.

“NBAD will spare no effort in upgrading the e-Dirham system, as it eventually strengthens the vision of the UAE concerning the transformation towards smart government.”

“The Ministry of Finance is currently developing a number of solutions and services, including the payment of service fees by direct debit from individual and corporate bank accounts, and recharging of e-Dirham cards through linking them with the payment gateway of the UAE Central Bank, added Al Khouri. – TradeArabia News Service