The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), in collaboration with Qatar National Bank (QNB), has announced the launching initial stage of the Unified E-Payment Gateway Project. The new gateway 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 cooperation between the public and private sectors to promote and facilitate the shift towards electronic payment and improve user experience in interacting with the 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, cell phones and points of sale (POS). It will ensure an easy and effective payment experience to users to complete payment transaction. 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.

In this regard, Ms 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  common government services in order to simplify procedures, increase efficiency, reduce effort, unify standards and make best investment in ICT resources through projects that support the digital transformation process in the country.” She added, “The Unified E-Payment Gateway will provide various online payment options to all government entities, which allows for completing online services in a safe and reliable way.”

Commenting on this partnership, Mr. 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 digitization 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 including Himyan cards and Apply 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.