Dubai, UAE, 10^th May 2004

UAEmall.com, an e-shopping site built along the lines of Amazon, but localised for the Emirates, has engaged Comtrust, Etisalat’s e-business solutions provider unit to provide an e-payment facility allowing the virtual market place to accept credit card payments over the Internet. According to the CEO of UAEmall.com, Mohamed Seddiq Almutawa, the step has been taken in order to simplify and streamline customer experience. “By introducing a virtual payment system, we have been able to fully automate the buying process, thereby eliminating the need for customers to speak to UAEmall.com representatives. This has allowed us to offer a true round-the-clock service,” he explained.

In the past customers of UAEmall.com would have to place their orders with a customer service operator. Payment would be made in the form of cash on delivery. “Such a payment model is cumbersome, time consuming and ultimately in-efficient. It made sense to completely e-enable the UAEmall.com,” said Almutawa. The new system allows UAEmall.com customers to pay for goods listed on the site using their credit cards. Commenting on the security aspect Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar, General Manager of Comtrust, said, “The e-payment solution is completely compliant with the new global standards laid down by Visa and MasterCard. It is an extremely safe and secure process.”

Comtrust says similar checks and balances found in ATM transactions are replicated in the new standards. When ever a payment is made on UAEmall.com an automatic request for the authentication of the card and cardholder will be made to the bank that issued the card. With the merchant having made such a request, responsibility for ensuring the authenticity of the transaction resides with the bank. This way both the merchant, in this case UAEmall.com, and the customer are protected.

It was Comtrust extensive experience and expertise that led UAEmall.com to approach Etisalat’s e-specialist. “We elected to go with Comtrust due to its specialist knowledge, its technical and regional experience and most importantly, its solid reputation. When dealing with e-payment trust is a must,” said Almutawa. UAEmall.com expect the solution to have a positive impact on its business. “Our payment method is less time consuming, more secure and much easier to handle. For our customers this means purchasing on UAEmall.com is simpler, infinitely quicker and more secure than ever. This can only add to the customer experience,” said Alumtawa.