The national ePurse solution jointly developed by NETS, a Singapore-based electronic payments provider, along with digital security provider Gemalto, for the government of Oman, has gone live – reported in Asian Banker.
NETS has said that ePurse solution allows both citizens and residents to store and load money in their National Identity and Resident Cards issued by the Royal Oman Police, and use them as a mode of payment besides credit and debit cards. This not only helps government departments to collect payment for their services but also allows citizens and residents, who do not carry a debit or credit card, to transact electronically.
The solution is expected to be rolled out progressively into 2010 with all banks in Oman participating in the ePurse initiative. At the same time, government agencies and retailers will be able to collect payment via the card.
Poh Mui Hoon, CEO of NETS, said: The Omani government and Gemalto were looking for a partner who was able to offer payment expertise that is trusted, secure and reliable. We will be working together to explore other services which we can enhance or develop for the Omani government.
Pierre Servettaz, VP of Gemalto for government programs in Middle East, said: This project was actively steered and implemented by BankMuscat, which acts as an issuer of the ePurse. Going forward, the Information Technology Authority will host the ePurse system in-house and proliferate the application to all the banks in Oman.
