Bahrain sees big jump in online payments

DINAR DEALS: Bahrain's eGovernment website has seen a huge leap in financial transactions during 2008.

Bahrain’s eGovernment Authority (eGA) has announced a significant increase in electronic financial transactions done via its website (www.bahrain.bh) during 2008.

eGA figures show that the number of financial transactions reached 12,550 worth roughly 940,000 dinars ($2.5 million) in the third quarter of this year alone, representing a 200 percent increase in number of transactions and a 250 percent increase in overall amount compared to the first quarter.

The eGA website allows the public to use regular debit cards which deduct the required total directly from the users’ bank accounts.

Debit card transactions accounted for approximately 20 percent of the total number of transactions, the rest were done by credit card.

CEO Mohammed al-Qaed said: “These figures clearly demonstrate the growing trust and acceptance of the eGA National Portal among the public and government entities.”

This jump in number of financial transactions is largely due to the wide range of financial services offered via the website that includes paying utility bills, paying traffic fines, booking pre-employment medical checkups, as well as paying University of Bahrain’s student tuition fees.

Since its launch in August 2007, the average daily traffic has tripled to the website which now includes 67 eGoverment services.

To accommodate the mounting demand, the eGA recently signed an agreement with Gulf Business Machines (GBM) to develop the website’s infrastructure and increase its capacity tenfold.

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