The Information Technology Authority (ITA) officially launched its epayment gateway (ePG). Addressing a gathering of ministers, under-secretaries and dignitaries, Dr Salim Sultan al Ruzaiqi, Chief Executive Officer, ITA, said this is part of ITA’s efforts to drive the Sultanate into a fully-fledged digital society. The epayment solution will enable individuals and businesses to pay for government services and to purchase products from vendors over the internet.

Prior to this portal, there were no means of making payments online in the Sultanate and no way for merchants based in Oman to sell their products and services to customers across the world via the internet. The gateway’s development began in April 2007. Since a soft launch in mid-March this year, a number of transactions have taken place successfully. The system now is ready for use. The ePG provides an operational component of the e-governance infrastructure and full ecommerce solutions that allow secure online payments (e-payments).

The ePG supports multiple acquiring banks and will operate as a critical shared service within the e-governance architecture along with Oman’s forthcoming Government eServices Portal. The state-of-the-art e-payment solution supports the delivery of e-services of the public sector and assists the private sector’s moves into e-commerce. The e-PG enables efficient electronic transactions in Oman and simplifies the processing of payment transactions for electronic services within the country.

Enabling the gateway is expected to increase the adoption of e-services along with electronic payments which are easy and efficient. The presence of a robust and secure e-PG enables easy payment for e-government-shared services using major local and international credit and debit cards, and in future, other electronic payment instruments. The gateway accepts all international credit cards, debit cards including Visa, MasterCard, Amex and Diner cards. The ePG currently supports the Internet and various other electronic channels including the mobile phone, IVR, Call Center, etc will be offered in future.

The ePG is reliable, secure and future proof with Payment Card Industry Standards. It is a cost effective and complete payment solution for ministries and private sector merchants. With the launch of the ePG, payment for services can now be settled online. Organisations will save on administrative cost while there will be shorter queues at counters. Other benefits will include improved economy by direct transfer of funds, full audit trail and reconciliation for online transactions available, secure payment processing to world-class standards, 3D Secure authentication programme (which includes issuer, acquirer Bank and Visa or Master card) to help mitigate e-commerce fraud, and free operational as well as technical support.

Individuals can pay for services and/or products online. Use of ePG is free for buyer and accepts all major credit/debit cards (Visa, Master, American Express and Diners Club). Similarly, benefits of sellers include: increased customer traffic due to easy payment option; complete support for retailers; complete audit trail and reconciliation report provided; free operational as well as technical support; secure payment processing to world-class standards; online real time view of transactions; and 3D Secure authentication programme (which includes issuer, acquirer Bank and Visa or Master card) to help mitigate e-commerce fraud and promotes cross-border e-commerce. Muhanna Moosa Baqer, Manager, ITA’s epayments, said the new portal is a big advantage to the government, businesses and consumers alike

TradeMax as internert solution provider,  welcomes the launch of ePayment gate way in oman. This will provide TradeMax's existing and prospects clients  ability to adapt to eCommerce, internet marketing solution,   internet advertising more effectively.