AED7.84 bn revenue from 2016 e-Dirham services

The revenue collected through e-Dirham by the federal government reached AED7.8 billion in 2016, with AED2.8 billion coming from the e-Dirham payment gateway and AED5 billion from service centres.

The number of service transactions done through the e-Dirham system amounted to 38.6 million transactions in 2016, representing an increase of 6.94 percent compared to 2015, while the total payment receipts rose by 18.7 percent to yield 19,852,961 receipts in 2016, as compared to 2015. The total number of e-Dirham cards issued amounted to 2,413,794 cards in 2016, representing an increase of 37.26 percent compared to 1,758,609 in 2015. The average execution time for web transactions through the e-Dirham network is now only 1.09 seconds, while the average execution time for the transactions through the e-Dirham Point of Sales devices is only 1.1 seconds.

"The e-Dirham services have achieved positive results by increasing revenue this year, contributing to government revenues, and increasing time efficiency whilst completing various transactions. The system’s popularity confirms customer confidence in the smart services provided on which we are working to constantly develop and update. These achievements have also led several ministries and local federal entities in addition to a number of private entities and printing offices, to adopt the e-Dirham system as a cashless payment channel," said Saeed Rashid Al Yateem, Assistant Under-Secretary for Resources and Budget Sector at MoF.

Last year, the e-Dirham system won the Special Merit Award for Government to Business and Customer (G2BC) recognising outstanding institutions in the payments industry. This confirms the significant success of the e-Dirham system, the smart substitute of cash during 2015.

"We are proud of the progress made by the e-Dirham system and the high demand of customers from different entities to use this smart service. This reflects our success in keeping up with the current changes and adopting the latest technologies with which we compete with advanced developing countries. We adopted this system following our belief in the need to implement smart solutions for government services that meet the needs of individuals and institutions accurately and efficiently, as well as with the highest protection and security levels," he added.

The ministry has previously launched a number of e-Dirham services and products in partnership with the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) during 2016 to improve customer experience, increase the efficiency and effectiveness of electronic payment and transaction collection in both government and private sectors. These include direct debit, credit for eD-Wallet balance from the user’s bank through eDirect, and payments by direct transfers from the customer’s bank account to the service provider’s bank account in both public and business sectors through eDebit. Additionally, e-Dirham self-service kiosks enable the purchase and recharge of e-Dirham cards, issue eD-Vouchers, allow payment of service fees for public services, as well as other additional services.

"The performance figures of the e-Dirham system during 2016 reflect the ongoing trust of customers and individuals from companies and government entities in the system and in adopting a secure and easy method of payment," said Suvrat Saigal, Managing Director, Head of Global Retail Banking at NBAD.

"NBAD is working alongside the Ministry of Finance to assess the potential of further developing the e-Dirham system to facilitate its use by clients of government departments, private companies and individuals," he added.

"Our role at NBAD is to provide our extensive expertise in electronic payment and collection systems, creating solutions that ensure safe, easy and efficient transactions through relevant platforms and frameworks, such as the self-service kiosk. This direction allows to facilitate payment and collection methods, increase adoption of innovative payment systems and integrating existing systems while maintaining the element of flexibility to meet the current and future needs of customers," he further explained.

The e-Dirham system has a special team dedicated to serve customers through call centres, SMS notifications on any transaction and ATMs across the UAE. Individuals and companies can use the e-Dirham cards to pay government service fees, as well as to pay fees for services and purchases in stores.