Dubai, United Arab Emirates, December 8, 2001

Comtrust, the e-business unit of Etisalat, announces its strategic partnership with Oman Insurance Company PSC to offer a special ‘e-Insurance’ Policy to its customers.

Effective immediately, Comtrust will offer protection against Merchant Charge Backs. A chargeback occurs when a service bank debits a merchant’s account as a result of a credit card having been used fraudulently on the merchant’s website and following the consumer repudiating the transaction.

“Chargebacks are an unfortunate fact of online business when accepting credit card payments,” explains Comtrust’s General Manager, Omran Sultan Al Owais. “In the US and Europe, for example, it is estimated that merchant loss due to credit card fraud can amount to as much as 10 per cent of total e-commerce revenue. The Merchant Charge Back Insurance, is therefore designed to protect merchants from such losses.”

According to Al Owais, the average chargeback rate of credit card transactions on the Internet is about 15 percent and can go as high as 30 percent for some merchants that deliver digital products immediately at the time of purchase. This compares with a rate of just one for POS (Point of Sale) transactions*.

“Security is of paramount importance when it comes to doing business on the Internet and is the biggest single source of concern when it comes to moving towards e-business,” he adds. “Confidence is not helped by reports of the increasing number of hackers and Net criminals! However now there is an added protection for merchants in the form of this new insurance policy.”

Al Owais adds that as the name implies, Comtrust is all about building trust for everyone an enterprise deals with in the new digital economy. “Our commitment to spurring the growth of e-business in the region is steadfast,” he said. “We will continually seek to attract more interest from local and regional organizations looking forward to establish an e-business, through various new innovations –such as this insurance policy – in addition to our full range of e-commerce infrastructure services and solutions.”

“We are the only entity in the region that can provide an easy and convenient method for businesses to adopt e-commerce through a one-stop-shop concept and this new insurance arrangement, takes the trust between ourselves and our customers to new heights”, explained Al Owais.

Abdul Muttalib Mohd. Mustafa, General Manager, Oman Insurance Company reiterated his Company’s commitment to innovation and protection from the evolving risks of the digital economy. “In fact, we have established a new unit in Dubai Internet City headed by Mr. Manoj Kumar to address issues related to risks and exposure of e-Business”.

“The new e-Insurance Policy will reimburse the merchant up to the limit of indemnity for the loss on account of any claim arising out of merchants’ liability to the service bank for online credit card purchase where the use of credit card was unauthorized and made fraudulently”, informed Mr. Muttalib.

To apply for the insurance, merchants simply have to complete the proposal form at and then Oman Insurance Company will provide the terms and pricing. “Once the agreement is signed, Oman Insurance Company immediately provides financial protection from credit card frauds that may unfortunately take place on a merchant’s site,” added Mr. Muttalib.

The Merchant Charge back Insurance is one of the suite of e-Insurance policies offered by Oman Insurance. The company will also provide cover for a business which is exposed to Professional Liability due to its e-business activities or to a Website which is hacked resulting in the loss, not only in physical damage to valuable data, networks or software but also in loss of business and third party legal liabilities.