Thursday, Feb 04, 2010

Gulf News

Dubai Tourists coming to the UAE will be able to make payments in their own currencies at the point of sale under the ‘Pay in Your Currency' service that has been introduced, a top official of the service provider told Gulf News.

Planet Payment and Network International, the largest provider of payment solutions in the Middle East and North Africa, signed an agreement to launch the ‘Pay in Your Currency' service in the UAE.

Cardholders, merchants and financial institutions will benefit from the new service and its preferential exchange rates, officials said.

Multi-currency payment

Philip Beck, Chairman and Chief Executive of Planet Payment, a leading multi-currency payment and data processor, said, "I believe that the UAE is a very progressive country and our products, ‘Pay in Your Currency', will add value to a puchase."

According to the World Travel and Tourism Council's report on the econ-omic impact of travel and tourism, UAE visitors spent Dh83.5 billion in 2009. It is essentially spending by visitors on goods and services.

Moreover, statistics released by Dubai Airport show that passenger traffic grew 9.2 per cent in 2009 to 40.9 million.

Network International said it intends to offer this service to every merchant.

It caters to cardholders or customers from outside the UAE.

Ram Chari, CEO of Network International, said: "Any retailer, hotel, travel agency, health care provider or educational institute, who is already accepting cards as a means of payment or is interested in [the] card, can apply for this service.

"Our service is already being communicated directly to merchants and the response has been overwhelming."

Beck said: "This service is a powerful tool to improve sales, customer satisfaction and profit."

Primarily price comparison is the benefit of this product for cardholders, he added.

"If the consumer understands how much the product costs in their currency, they might buy more and they can determine how much they want to spend.

"The adoption of the Pay in Your Currency service has increased dramatically over recent years as more than six million consumers in 2009 in 30 banks and ten countries are using this product," he added.

Moreover, Beck said that with an approximately 3 per cent fee is a better value for money for financial institutions.

"This service is also very useful in terms of merchant's revenue growth. And having a new product that is in demand by merchants will make it easier for financial institutions to win and retain business."

On the investment by Network International, Chari said: "Network has invested quite a bit in both technology and people to bring this service into the region."

steps

how it works

Operationally, it is just one additional step for the merchant who accepts cards as a means of payment. When a card is swiped, the system will recognise whether the card has been issued outside the UAE and will offer the option of paying in the home currency of cardholder. The merchant will indicate this option to the cardholder, who will have the choice of paying in his own currency or in UAE dirhams. Based on the response of the cardholder or customer, the merchant will complete the transaction.

— Z.B.

By Zaher Bitar

Gulf News 2010. All rights reserved.