Dubai: The UAE Banks Federation (UBF) on Wednesday formally launched the implementation of the Mobile Wallet project.
The project, comprehensive digital payment solution, first unveiled in February, has been developed by a special committee of nine member banks under the Chairmanship of Tirad Al Mahmoud, CEO of Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank.
The project is expected to be implemented over next year in a number of phases. The UBF is co-ordinating the project with banks such as Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Adib, Commercial Bank of Dubai, Emirates NBD, Mashreq, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Standard Chartered, First Gulf Bank and Dubai Islamic Bank.
The Mobile Wallet is the financial component of the Smart Government initiative. Smart Government has identified over 90 services provided by government departments requiring digital payment. The Mobile Wallet has been designed to allow these to be made from a purpose-designed platform that interfaces with all banks operating in the UAE.
“The Mobile Wallet supports a critical national goal. The UAE will be potentially the first country in the world where the whole banking sector supports such a programme, which will impact everyone’s daily lives in one way or another,” said Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, Chairman of the UAE Banks Federation.
Digital devices
The project also incorporates the facility for smart phones and other digital devices to be used for cashless purchasing in UAE retail and other outlets, as well as a means to store and transfer money. According to International Data Corporation (IDC), around 5.2 million phones are expected to be sold this year in the UAE, out of which around 3.5 million are likely to be smartphones.
MasterCard’s recent ‘Cashless Journey’ study indicated that in the Middle East, the UAE is moving fastest away from cash. The study, which looked into how 33 countries are close to becoming cashless markets, found that non-cash transactions in the country account for 26 per cent of consumers payments by value, compared to 19 per cent in Saudi Arabia.
One of the key objectives of the project is to make banking more inclusive and provide financial services to the unbanked segment of population. In future phases of the project, the Mobile Wallet will be available to visitors to the UAE.
“We strongly believe that the popularity of the system will be driven by the uptake of users, and the ease of payment and intuitiveness of the system which supports it. Additionally, the system has been designed to make usage available to all levels of society, including those who do not have bank accounts,” Tirad Al Mahmoud, CEO of Adib and Chairman of the UAE Banks Federation committee working on the Smart Wallet.
