Online payments gateways in the middle east

Todays, there is no generic payment service provider in the Middle East, mainly because there are no rules and regulations for such services and this prevent big players like paypal to enter the region. Every corporate/bank has its own service for online payments that is built by certain software house.

The online payment services can be divided into two types:

Prepaid cards

It is a pre-funded card, the user only spend what money he load on it and he can typically get it without a credit check or bank account. User can simply purchase the prepaid card form a cards provider, load it with the cash amount you choose and make online shopping in online merchants who support the provider cards.

This type is most acceptable in the Arab region because it safe and secured. Customers utilize it to pay for online games, online services, download websites, and local e-Commerce websites. There are two players who provide such services:

i.            OneCard:  was initially launched in Saudi Arabia during April 2004. It is a prepaid online payment allowing users to access the most comprehensive portfolio of Internet connectivity (ADSL), communication services, mobile services, premium subscriptions and paid content from the Web and much more. OneCard domain has further expansion by 2008 to encompass Egypt, GCC countries L, Iran, and North Africa.

 

ii.            Cashu: introduced by Maktoob.com, the largest and most popular online Arab community with more than 3.5 million registered users. The biggest markets for cashU are Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Syria and Egypt.

Postpaid cards

According to this type of cards, at the end of the month the customer receives a bill which shows the itemized billing for the month.This type commonly refers to mobile service providers and credit cards which are not very popular in the Arab countries because of security concerns. Arabs have less familiarity with this kind of service, and banks in Arab countries don’t encourage using such cards.AlaaNumair, the senior research analyst for Arab Advisors Group said “People do not really understand how to use a credit card, or they have some issues about the security behind using credit cards, they basically are afraid to use their credit cards online.”

 

Mobile phone payments

Statistic show a very high mobile penetration rate in the Arab world, for instance, at the end of September 2009, the rate for mobile phone users in the UAE stood at 193.5 percent, followed by Saudi Arabia with a rate of 165.5 percent and Jordan with 98%. Therefore,this method can be realistic solution for Arab consumer.

In 2009 Dubai launches first Mobile Payments service inthe Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) region. But until writing this, there are no statistical reports about the usage of this type of service in the Arab countries.

 

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