The federal government revenue collected through e-Dirham in the UAE reached more than Dh4 billion ($1.08 billion) in the first quarter (Q1) of 2018, representing an increase by 82 per cent compared to the same period last year.

This achievement confirms the e-Dirham’s role and popularity in the cashless payment industry for government services, a statement said.

The number of e-Dirham cards issued in Q1 2018 exceeded 3.3 million cards, while the number of transaction receipts reached 3,516,903 in the same period.

Saeed Rashid Al Yateem, assistant undersecretary of Resources and Budget Sector at the Ministry of Finance stressed the Ministry’s commitment to continuously upgrade the e-Dirham system and expand its services to facilitate its operation and raise customer satisfaction.

“The e-Dirham system represents an important achievement in the digital payment gateway, due to its efficiency, accuracy and ease of use, in addition to guaranteed high levels of security in cashless transactions,” said Al Yateem.

 “The Ministry recently provided end users with the capability to pay for government service fees, including tax, around the clock by direct debit from bank accounts within any of the seven banks operating in the UAE. This e-Debit functionality is offered via the e-Dirham system and linked to the national e-Payment gateway system via the UAE Central Bank,” he added.

The average speed of processing any transaction through the e-Dirham system is only 1.02 second, while the average speed of processing a transaction through POS devices is 1.1 second.

The e-Dirham system provides advanced payment methods which are quick and easy and allows paying for government services and tax dues in a cost-effective and efficient way.

The e-Dirham system is an initiative launched by the UAE Ministry of Finance in 2001, to provide an official electronic payment platform for collection of revenues and service fees of governmental and semi-governmental institutions. e-Dirham is a cashless payment system that adopts efficient, secure, state- of-the-art and world-class technologies; the first step in creating an e-government in the UAE. – TradeArabia News Service