Dubai eGovernment, a pioneering initiative in the region to provide online services, has announced that it will hold the Dubai eGovernment Prepaid Card First Road Show to boost its campaign of raising awareness and educating clients on the benefits of the Dubai eGov Prepaid Card. The Road Show, which Kicked off at Dubai Municipality, aims to encourage online payments for government transactions through the Prepaid Card and runs from April 22 to May 17, 2007.

"The Prepaid Card is a very practical alternative to carrying cash, which can be used to shop at merchant outlets, pay for services and for government transactions online. This payment tool is part of Dubai eGovernment's continuous efforts to offer handy solutions to the constantly evolving challenges of the society, particularly in dealing with government offices. The Prepaid Card complements the wide range of eServices that are being offered by Dubai eGovernment," said Rehab Lootah, Acting eServices Director, Dubai eGovernment.

To apply for a Prepaid Card, customers need to visit any National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) branch. The Prepaid Card may be obtained instantly with quick loading of funds that can immediately be used for online government transactions and is accepted at any of the 24 million VISA merchant outlets worldwide. Other features and benefits of the Prepaid Card are that no bank account is required, there are no income requirements, it enables easy reloading and convenience, among other benefits.



"As part of its approach to provide unique and state-of-the-art products, the NBAD-Dubai eGovernment Prepaid was launched to provide value added services for its customers. The new card is convenient in terms of loading and re-loading and is supported by many additional functions, such as facilitating online payments for those people without credit cards," commented Khalid Deemas, Head of Retail Banking, NBAD.

By using the Card, customers can avail of many benefits including low rates on vehicle insurance, discounted rates on Mandoob Visa Application Service, savings on currency exchange fees and discounts at more than 1700 outlets throughout the emirates. The Card offers a safe, secure and easy method to access funds, without the use of a credit card.

The Road Show's first stop will be Dubai Municipality's main branch in Deira and another branch in Al-Twar. This will be followed by road show to other government departments also.

Dubai eGovernment is a pioneering initiative in the region to provide online services across the spectrum of corporate and community life in the emirate. It also has a vision to integrate individually automated government departments under the single umbrella of the eGovernment initiative, thus empowering employees across lines of businesses and levels of government, besides facilitating the lives of citizens and customers of the government. Dubai has taken a lead in the region in deploying eGovernment applications and is among the first few governments in the world to provide such integrated services to its citizens.

The eGovernment portal is a single contact point masking the complexity of the bureaucratic procedures, and guiding access to all services in the easiest possible way. In addition, the eGovernment initiative seeks to improve and enhance procedures by maximizing the benefit from technology, so that users from all walks of life will be able to utilize the portal for their specific needs with considerable ease.