Information Technology Authority (ITA) is bullish on the prospects of e-payment in Oman and is in dialogue with the banking sector to make the service more accessible.
ITA, which is also the co-organiser of COMEX, plans to incorporate more segments in the annual communications exhibition in an effort to provide a bigger platform for technology companies in the coming years.
Speaking to Muscat Daily after the official inauguration of COMEX on Monday, ITA chairman H E Ali bin Masoud al Sunaidy said that e-payments are assuming significance everyday and it is up to the banks to come forward and make it more popular.
"We would also need to go further on the issue of e-payment. The platform and security are in place there is no reason why we should not have more e-commerce in Oman. We are simply not doing enough on e-payment. The banking community in Oman needs to come forward on this more.
Some of the banks are doing well on this front, but there are a few who have been lagging behind. Maybe, some of the banks are waiting for regulations and better technology which are now there," H E Sunaidy said. He added that it is heartening to note that a few banks have been participating in COMEX this year and a few service providers for the banks are also present.
When asked about changes he would like to see in COMEX in the coming years, H E Sunaidy said that there is definitely more scope for seeing applications touching the lives of the common man and COMEX is the right platform to promote it.
ITA CEO Dr Salim Sultan al Ruzaiqi also felt that e-payment is important for e-governance and e-commerce. "We have been seeing a rapid growth in e-payments both for government and non-government agencies.
Therefore, the e-payment gateway is becoming more and more important for e-commerce and e-governance. ITA is looking at enhancing the mode of e-payments. Not only should it be restricted to the internet, it should be made accessible in the form of mobile payments and other avenues," Ruzaiqi told Muscat Daily.
© Muscat Daily 2011
