Bahrain-based telecom firm, Batelco, which set up the Gulf’s first Internet payment gateway in 1999, is working with Visa, Amex and Credimax, to extend its services to government and local businesses in the kingdom. In its latest incarnation, the gateway, now marketed as @ltijara.com, will handle payments from Amex and Visa and direct debits from local banks after its inception as a vehicle to transfer money online from customers to suppliers. More significantly, the gateway will also accept payments with the Bahrain government’s smart card, whose e-purse will facilitate payments for traffic fines, electricity and phone bills.
Batelco, one of the world’s few telcos to own a payment gateway, has implemented its own debit and credit card processing systems in-house to handle authorizations for transactions via the @altijara.com service. To reduce customer lines at government or ministry offices, Batelco will install a number of Kwikserve kiosks at certain premises so that consumers paying bills or fines, or topping up prepaid cards do not have to stand in line. Within the eCommerce sector, Bahrain’s Ministry of Commerce has pledged its support for public-private initiatives to develop the kingdom’s digital economy and e-payment services.
Under Batelco’s vision for @altijara.com, businesses or government ministries with a merchant account and identification number from Amex or CrediMax, can register with the service to buy their visa permits online, for instance. Local ministries and businesses alike are expected to welcome Batelco’s integrated billing system for @altijara.com, which can be accessed via phone, the Internet, a mobile phone, or via a Kwikserve kiosk. For security, the @altijara.com billing system is secured with the SSL (secure socket layer) encryption standard, and also features an advanced recovery and fraud management system.
ePayNews.com