As part of its steps to implement the initiative of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to ensure Dubai is the world's smartest city, Dubai Smart Government Establishment (DSG) has recently signed a strategic partnership agreement with Quisk Middle East FZ-LLC for digital payment solution services. The agreement is aimed at providing the necessary support for activating the smart payment service channel via mobile phone numbers for individual and corporate retail customers in Dubai.
This innovative smart payment service channel will enable individual customers dealing with the retail sector across Dubai including medium and small companies, hotels, restaurants, cafes, pharmacies, supermarkets, co-operative societies, delivery service companies, public services companies etc. to buy and instantly pay round the clock through direct debit from their personal bank accounts using their mobile numbers and a PIN code. This PIN is obtained by each customer from selected banks, who have signed similar agreements.
This smart channel enables customers to complete instant payments without the need to provide bank details or use credit cards, cheques or cash. Customers can now create pre-payment accounts to be topped up with amounts at the customer's discretion to benefit from this smart payment service by accessing these accounts through the customer's mobile number and PIN code.
Commenting on this agreement, H.E. Wesam Al Abbas Lootah, DSG CEO, said: "This strategic partnership with Dubai-based Quisk Middle East FZ-LLC comes as a practical translation of DSG’s strategy, which includes joint co-operation with both the government and private sectors to fulfill the innovative vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to cross the future with determination, because HH Sheikh Mohammed believes that a creative, innovative government is an interactive government with close services to customers with the aim of easing their lives and bringing happiness to them. The contact comes also in implementation of the directives of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council, to speed up smart transformation towards Dubai becoming the smartest city in the world."
He added: "DSG is working as per a clear strategy under the umbrella of Smart Dubai Initiative and is aimed in its entirety at making customers happy and increasing their trust, raising time and cost savings and achieving economic prosperity and social progress for citizens, residents, businesses and visitors by easing the procedures of their transactions round the clock." The smart payment service is a first step taken by DSG as part of an innovative and integrated smart system that it is implementing as part of its endeavors to ensure Dubai becoming the world's smartest city as soon as possible, he said.
Activating this service with the private sector in this stage would contribute to enhancing the corporate vision for building an excellent smart city with all the ingredients of sustainable well-being and would underline the keenness on enabling all the segments of the public to make payments and purchases in the easiest, fastest and most secure ways to add to their happiness and comfort, he added, noting that this service would shortly incorporate the settlement of the payments of the government sector's transactions as well.
Meanwhile, Ziad Al Shobaki, Managing Director of Quisk Middle East FZ-LLC, said: "We look at the strategic partnership with DSG as a significant agreement for our company for exchanging expertise and best practices and enhance the channels of communication with DSG with the aim of supporting the achievement of its strategic objectives. On our part, we will spare no effort to provide an excellent service to the public based on our belief in the important role of the private sector in effectively contributing to implementing the plans for Dubai to become a leading and distinctive city that contributes to building the knowledge-based community and provides innovative smart services for all the segments of society with the aim of providing the ingredients for Dubai to successfully become the smartest city in the world."
DSG is working on providing an integrated system for settling the fees of government transactions and paying bills through innovative, easy-to-use smart channels including the smart payment gateway and Dubai Now app. This new channel complements this excellent system with the aim of making the daily transactions of the public easier and more comfortable towards the ultimate goal of bringing happiness to them.
