Damascus-Sana
In the presence of the Prime Minister, Engineer Hussein Arnous, today the Ministry of Communications and Technology and the Central Bank of Syria launched an electronic payment service via cell phone from the Dama Rose Hotel in Damascus.
The service aims to provide all services to citizens with minimal effort, time and cost, and is a quantum leap in digital transformation, e-government, and the development of the information technology industry so that the citizen is able to pay fees and bills electronically, whether public or private.
In a statement to reporters, Eng. Arnous said that the government is proceeding with the electronic payment process at an accelerated pace, and we will soon reach what befits the Syrian people, and we will do everything we can to achieve this project.
Eng. Arnous added, “We are proud of the generous guidance of the master of the homeland to strive to work by electronic payment and to adopt digital transformation is one of the goals of the government and with great effort from all telecommunications agencies, the Central Bank of Syria and all state agencies, we are working with everything we can to reach this moment today,” pointing out that the launch of the service Online payment through the two telecom companies Syriatel and MTN is considered a new step to be followed by subsequent steps.
The Minister of Communications and Technology, Eng. Iyad Al-Khatib, stated in a speech that electronic payment is one of the most vital indicators of countries ’economies, which has made governments worldwide realize that developing and modernizing means of payment and financial exchanges is an important priority.
Minister Al-Khatib stated that the traditional means of payment are no longer effective in an era that requires speed in processing electronic transactions and transactions. This has allowed for the rapid technological development resulting from the revolution in the Internet and information technologies.
Al-Khatib emphasized that in light of the modernization of technology, the spread of computers and smart phones, the development of the interface of the banking sectors, the modern changes in the world of finance and business, and the spread and prosperity of electronic commerce, the application and modernization of electronic payment has become an inevitable priority for governments to advance the digital economy and achieve financial sustainability.
Minister Al-Khatib stated that the electronic payment enables the implementation of various financial transactions in the sale and purchase operations in a safe and controlled manner, and the collection of funds in a fast and effective manner with many other advantages such as lower costs, saving time, contributing to increasing sales and managing them, lowering transaction costs, in addition to confidentiality and the privacy of the sale and purchase procedure and limitation. One of the methods of fraud and fraud by managing financial assets in an environment subject to government control and supervision.
For his part, the Governor of the Central Bank of Syria, Dr. Muhammad Essam Hazima, affirmed that what is currently being worked on through the launch of the electronic payment service aims to raise the standard of living of the citizen and facilitate his transactions, indicating that the technical infrastructure in the Central Bank has been prepared by national efforts and that the next stage will witness the launch of electronic banking tools from Through the link between banks on the one hand and electronic payment companies on the other hand.
In a statement to SANA, Eng. Manhal Junaidi, Director General of the Telecommunications and Post Regulatory Authority, stated that the electronic payment service comes as an advanced stage in electronic operations through which citizens can deal with services from public or private agencies without the need to review them.
He indicated that the service will be available to all subscribers who have a cell phone, regardless of the type of cellular device they own, as it was launched through USSD technology available for all types of phones or through the application service, and thus it will be possible to practice electronic payments in two directions from customer to customer. Or from the customer to the governmental or private economic activity that the citizen obtains in his daily dealings services.
Junaidi confirmed that the necessary technical measures have been taken to make the payment method through cellular companies easy, simple and safe, so that the amount that the citizen wants to pay is not deducted from his online account except after making sure that he reaches the party to which the payment was made, in a way that guarantees the rights of the customer and the party to whom he is paying.
Junaidi explained that the legislative and regulatory environment for electronic payment services has been prepared and the basic instructions and controls have been approved. All cell phone subscribers can open electronic accounts upon launching the service and feed these accounts through points of sale spread in the governorates.
Eng. Kinan Masouti, Director of Regulatory Affairs at MTN, affirmed that the electronic payment service will provide many applications in the future to facilitate citizens' service and their dealings in a simpler manner, pointing out that the first phase has been launched today and soon the rest of the stages will be launched to fully provide services.
In a similar statement, the Director of the Product Marketing Department at "Syriatel" Tariq Zaaboub indicated that the launch of electronic payment services via mobile phones is an effective step to encourage the industry of applications and electronic services in general, and it is beneficial to everyone, especially as it is easy and safe to implement all operations and daily requirements.
The launch was attended by the Finance Ministers, Dr. Kinan Yaghi, and the Economy and Foreign Trade, Dr. Muhammad Samer Al-Khalil, and the Chairman of the Planning and International Cooperation Authority, Dr. Imad Al-Sabouni.
