UAE residents can look forward to a future of mobile payments, in which they will be able to use their mobile phones for dozens of financial transactions large and small, including bill payments, topping up their Salik accounts, and other associated services.
That’s the prediction of leading UAE telecommunications provider Etisalat, which will roll-out mobile payment services for its network subscribers in the near future and is talking up the technology at GITEX Technology Week.
“As part of the company’s mobile commerce (m-commerce) strategy, Etisalat is focusing on a number of payment options over its mobile [network], which will enable our customers to use their phones as an electronic wallet,” explains Khalifa Al Shamsi, vice president of marketing, consumer and SMB at Etisalat.
“We have already introduced the mobile payment system for paying Etisalat bills and recharging and renewing Wasel prepaid credit, and have demonstrated in the past technology that allows customers to use their mobile phone to make purchases from a vending machine,” he adds.
Etisalat will be using GITEX Technology Week to liase with vendors, users and other IT and communications specialists as it promotes and refines its m-commerce technology.
The telco has long been at the forefront of communications technology developments in the Middle East, and it predicts the new m-commerce initiative will put it ahead of operators from Europe and the United States in terms of the services it offers its customers.
Etisalat recently completed the first stage of its next-generation network (NGN), which will enable the transmission of voice, data and video services using Internet Protocol (IP).
“The core [of the network] was completed [last year] – now we are working on the access technologies,” explains Etisalat CEO, Mohammad Al Qamzi.
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