Previously, only credit card users could make payments online for services such as traffic fines, electricity and water bill payments etc. Over 70% residents of Bahrain will now be able to pay the fees for services available on the eGovernment portal - www.e.gov.bh. This facility is available, at no additional cost, to the users.
An agreement to enable the debit card payment facility has been signed between the Ministry of Finance and Ahli United Bank which would be using the Benefit system. This is in continuation with the progressive leadership of Ministry of Finance to leverage the latest developments in Information Technology for the benefit of the Kingdom. In January 2007, the ministry celebrated ten years of introduction of the Financial Management Information System (FMIS) that enables the government organizations in maintaining their accounts efficiently.
According to Mr. Mohammed Al Qaed, the eGovernment representative, this move is in line with the government's efforts to make the lives of its residents and citizens easier. He is also confident that this effort will go a long way in attracting more people to avail the services available on the portal. Mr. Al Qaed further said, 'The Kingdom of Bahrain is making rapid advances in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to enhance service delivery. In addition to improving the customers' satisfaction with the government, the initiative is designed to gain competitive advantage over other nations in attracting investments in the long run.'
Bahrain has long appreciated the importance of eGovernment and has undertaken a comprehensive program to implement it in a phased manner to make a visible enhancement in quality of life of its constituents. "As a part of this program, major projects such as the Government Data Network (GDN), Smart Card and eGovernment Portal have been successfully launched to drive Bahrain to a leadership position in eGovernment. This latest development is part of that ongoing process."
According to Mr. Al Qaed, the importance Bahrain is placing on ICT has resulted in a high degree of intra-ministerial computerization and a superior ICT infrastructure. "However, Bahrain now needs to focus on service delivery to its citizens in order to optimally utilize the infrastructure that has been created, and at the same time to graduate to the next level in the eGovernment arena."
He affirmed that there is a need to further develop common standards, policies and a higher degree of coordination amongst ministries towards the achievement of common national goals. "With increasing focus on customer service delivery, it was imperative to develop a Kingdom-wide strategy and an implementation plan to harness the synergies developed till now - a goal that was achieved through the approval of the eGovernment strategy and its subsequent launch by H.E. Sheikh Mohammed bin Mubarak al-Khalifa". He also believes that it is important to develop capabilities in various government institutions so that eGovernment initiatives, both current and future, may be implemented with minimal time and effort while yielding the desired benefits.
Mr. Nabeel Al Dooy, the head of treasury in the Ministry of Finance, said that, 'Both priority and feasibility planning to provide various services are critical to channelizing the limited resources in the right direction. In line with this endeavor, this facility will assist the ministries in expediting the accounting processes to settle their accounts. .With increasing investments in technology, effective monitoring and evaluation of each and every project is imperative to ensure that every endeavor delivers the expected outcome."
Mr. Al Dooy further stated that this new facility focuses on enhancing the reach of government services by allowing people holding debit cards also to make payments for services available on the eGovernment portal. It should be noted here that the number of residents and citizens holding debit cards in Bahrain is significantly higher than those holding credit cards only. In addition, Mr. Al Doy added that the payment to government for various services through credit cards has exceeded BD 20 Million a year.
It was further informed that the Benefit Payment Gateway is an advanced online payment solution that allows merchants, corporate and government entities to interact with their individual customers to process and settle online credit and debit cards payments via Internet or any other electronic channel with protection and integrity throughout a complete payment process cycle. The Benefit Payment Gateway checks for validity, encrypts transaction details, ensures they are sent to the correct destination and then decrypts the responses which are sent back to the shopping cart / billing / account system and to update the merchant website with the receipt and confirmation. Furthermore, the complete payment processing cycle is under a certified security program and gets reviewed and evaluated on a regular basis during the year. This means that using Benefit debit cards through the eGovernment portal is as safe as using the ATM machine, which is trusted by most card holders.
Autor(en)/Author(s): Anne-Birte Stensgaard
Quelle/Source: AME Info, 01.07.2007
