Travelogue

Essential Guide

e-Banking & e-Commerce

e-Banking only holds value when customers can conduct "serious" e-finance, i.e. financial transactions such as fund transfers to accounts worldwide, payment of utility bills, and mortgages and loans from the convenience of their homes. Such services have become the norm worldwide. And although, the Middle East region has been slow on the uptake, some banks have moved forward aggressively to deploy such services.

A survey conducted in June 2001 by technology consultants Accenture shows that of the 85 banks interviewed in the GCC countries, 27% had already introduced serious e-finance services; 12% of the respondents had no plans to introduce such services; 2% were unspecified and the rest planned to deploy the same within a maximum time limit of 24 months. Three countries in the region that have exceeded the US ratio of 17% e-Banking registrants to Internet users is Bahrain (17%), UAE (21%) and Kuwait (29%). Banks in these countries also offer some of the most sophisticated e-banking services currently available in the region.

On a par with the Commercial trends in any developed nation in the world, the UAE plans to establish an Internet-based central financial forwarding and clearance facility known as the Payment Gateway Server (PGS). Several top companies in UAE are working hand in hand with the  government agencies  to establish the facility which is expected to be the first of its kind in the AGCC area. PGS, a major step in the introduction of e-commerce, is the equivalent of central clearing and forwarding of financial transactions carried out on the Internet. This is equivalent to Single Window Clearance adopted all vibrant economies but faster in transactions avoid unnecessary paper work delays. The server, which will permit secure electronic transactions, is an intermediary between Web-based Traders, Financial institutions and Consumers.

An important aspect of e-Commerce is known as Business-to-Business (B2B), where companies and organizations in the e-Marketplace can buy and sell goods and services efficiently online and in real time. Buyers can find, compare, and procure products & services; and can conduct reverse auctions in which sellers bid to supply products and services at the most competitive prices. On the other hand, suppliers can list their products and services, to sell them through online catalogs or auctions.  A major player in this marketplace is Tejari.com.

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