UAE's ministry of finance is set to introduce the first e-dirham card, a pre-paid smart card that can be used to make payments for government services, reported the Gulf News daily Saturday. The e-dirham cards will be available in denominations of Dh100, Dh300, Dh500, Dh3,000 and Dh5,000, and will be available at certain local banks, said the daily.
"This is a true e-government solution which will allow people to avoid carrying cash and make payments for government services through the e-dirham card," said general manager of Smart Systems, Mutaz Zeidan.
An official told the daily that ministries of labor and immigration will be the first to accept the cards.
Initially, the e-dirham cards will be used for making payments only to certain departments such as immigration, labor and health, but permission is likely to be granted for payments to other departments, Zeidan said.
"They could also be used for electronic payment through the Internet," he added.
The cards will be sold by Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Union National Bank, National Bank of Dubai, Commercial Bank of Dubai and MashreqBank, said the paper.
Smart Systems, said the daily, sources its technology from western markets such as the US, the UK and some European countries.
It has also tied up with Indian companies. "There is a tremendous talent pool in India and it is a more competitive market than the US or Europe in terms of information technology. Germany too is now hiring Indian programmers," Zeidan said -- Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
