The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), in collaboration with QNB, has launched the initial stage of the Unified E-Payment Gateway Project, which enables individuals and companies to pay the fees of the e-services provided by the different government entities in the country.
This announcement comes as part of the effective co-operation between the public and private sectors to promote and facilitate the shift towards electronic payment and improve user experience in interacting with digital government services.
The Unified E-Payment Gateway will provide the current and future needs for e-payment, offering several payment options using credit cards, debit cards and prepaid cards as well as bank transfers through different payment channels, such as the Internet, cellphones, and points of sale (POS).
It will ensure an easy and effective payment experience for users to complete payment transactions. It will also bring many benefits to government entities, such as reducing operational expenses as a result of reducing the required resources to build, operate and support e-payment. In addition, the gateway will help government entities provide their e-services both efficiently and rapidly.
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 joint services of government entities to simplify procedures, increase efficiency, reduce effort, unify standards and make the best investment in ICT resources through projects that support the digital transformation process in the country. The Unified E-Payment Gateway will provide various online payment options to all government entities, which allows for completing online services safely and reliably.”
Adel al-Malki, senior executive vice president of QNB Retail Banking Group, said: “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 Portal with features, including credit card payment, debit cards (NAPS), pre-paid card payment using Himyan cards and Apple Pay, in addition to settlement and report mechanisms. 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.
