The state-of-the-art e-payment solution will support the delivery of e-services of the public sector and will also assist the private sector's moves into e-commerce. ePG will enable efficient electronic transactions and simplify the processing of payment transactions for electronic services within the country. It will be operational in line with Oman's forthcoming e-Government Gateway, the UBAR Portal.
The new facility will allow Oman's merchants to sell their products and services on the Internet to customers worldwide. While customers here could until now purchase products and services from any part of the world on the Internet, there was no facility available that would allow merchants based in Oman to sell their products and services to customers across the world via cyberspace.
ITA, an autonomous legal body affiliated to the Minister of National Economy, had last year invited Payment Gateway providers to tender for the provision of e-payments for government services. The Oman government, in its e-governance strategy, has identified electronic payments, particularly those enabled by the Internet, as a critical shared service within the e-governance architecture. "The e-Payment Gateway is a key enabler to the successful delivery of public sector services online and once operational will increase the adoption of e-services due to its efficiency and ease-of-use," Mohammed Nasser Al Khasibi, Secretary-general of the Ministry of National Economy and Chairman, ITA, said, adding: "The presence of such a robust and secure e-Payment Gateway will enable e-government shared services to be paid for electronically using major local and international credit and debit cards, and in future, other electronic payment instruments. This agreement is another significant milestone in the implementation of our eOman strategy." Dr. Salim Sultan Al Ruzaiqi, CEO, ITA, said the authority was "excited" to cooperate with MasterCard and BankMuscat in developing an e-Government infrastructure offering e-Commerce facilities for merchants who would have the choice of acquirer.
MasterCard Payment Gateway Service, he added, "provides us with a platform that will provide support for all acquirers equally." The national ePG platform will use the MasterCard Gateway Service (MiGS), which is a turnkey payment solution for merchants and organisations that require a secure and more efficient way to process payments from customers across all acceptance channels.
Autor(en)/Author(s): Ravindra Nath
Quelle/Source: Khaleej Times, 11.04.2007
