Increased categories of transactions in mobile banking is expected to be the next big thing in the UAE banking sector and software companies are gearing up to tap into the opportunity, a senior executive of a software firm told Emirates Business.

July 20, 2009

"UAE banks have been quite active in making investments toward upgrading technologies and introducing new services. At present, the kinds of transactions in mobile banking are limited. But very soon we are expecting to see much more happening on the direction of transaction banking on mobiles and we are looking forward to it," said Nilesh Sarker, Assistant Vice-President - Banking and Finance, Raqmiyat, UAE-based systems integrator.

"It could actually mean that customers do not even have to carry their debit cards etc with them when they go out," he added.

Raqmiyat recently came out with a new solution designed to work with the UAE Central Bank's 'Wages Protection System', an initiative by the Ministry of Labour and the bank.

The new software provides an interface for banks and exchange houses to connect to the Central Bank's WPS system based on stipulated file formats, which will facilitate automation across all WPS cycles and help streamline the timely payment of wages to more than four million blue collared employees in the UAE. The WPS system is designed to enable the Ministry of Labour to monitor payment of wages and create a complete database of the workforce.

"It is part of an initiative by the government which will ensure that they get their wages on time. The employers would be processing the salaries through banks. The entire process requires electronic exchange of files between bank, employer, agent and Central Bank, and our role is to facilitate an easy flow of the process through our solution," said Sarker. He said the initiative by the government would facilitate timely payment of wages.

Heavy investments got a hit during the crisis, said Sarker, "but it did not stop investments."

"This period did witness some control on spending in terms of heavy investments towards core banking solutions by the banks but most of them continue with smaller initiatives that are related to say, products or services.

"When it comes to technology, the UAE is at a par with most of the countries worldwide. The past five to six years have witnessed rapid progress on this front."

With the banking sector active on introducing the latest of technologies, he said "mobile banking is expected to be the next big thing".

"There would be many more transactions, for instance payments through mobile phones or remittances by expatriates. We will try to find out how we can add value to the same. Advancements on that front have started to happen."

Raqmiyat was involved in the development process of image-based clearing introduced in the UAE banks.

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