The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) has announced it is launching the initial stage of the Unified E-Payment Gateway Project in collaboration with Qatar National Bank (QNB).
The new gateway enables individuals and companies to pay fees for e-services provided by the different government entities. The move is aiming to bring together the public and private sectors and accelerate a shift towards electronic payment for digital government services.
The Unified E-Payment Gateway will offer several payment options using credit cards, debit cards and prepaid cards as well as bank transfers through different payment channels, such as the internet, cell phones and points of sale (POS), MCIT said.
Among its benefits, it is expected that government entities will be able to reduce operational expenses as a result of needing less resources to build, operate and support e-payment.
Ms Mashael Ali Al Hammadi, Assistant Undersecretary for Digital Government Affairs at MCIT, said: “The launch of the E-Payment Gateway comes as part of the objectives of Qatar Digital Government Strategy aimed at developing the common government services in order to simplify procedures, increase efficiency, reduce effort, unify standards and make best investment in ICT resources through projects that support the digital transformation process in the country.”
Mr. Adel Al-Malki, Senior Executive Vice President of QNB Retail Banking Group added: “We’re pleased to have this partnership with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, which comes to consolidate our journey of digital transformation and sustainability. This service is a valuable addition to our digital services and solutions through which we seek to support digitisation projects launched by various state facilities, in line with Qatar National Vision (QNV) 2030.”
The initial stage of the Unified E-Payment Gateway Project was launched simultaneously with the Zakat Fund service provided on Hukoomi, Qatar’s e-Government Portal. Its features include credit card payment, Debit Cards (NAPS), pre-paid card payment including Himyan cards and Apply Pay, in addition to settlement and report mechanisms.
MCIT said the next phases of the project will be launched to include additional features, such as instant bank transfer, Google Pay and other features that align with the latest technologies of online payment by the end of Q1 of 2024.
