Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Mobile commerce expert, Sammy Tuffaha, called for promoting the culture of electronic payment in the MENA region, highlighting the importance of engaging national institutions and private sector companies in marketing campaigns that aim to raise public awareness of e-payment services.

Tuffaha made such comments during his participation in the Cards and Payments

Middle East Conference 2013, which was recently held in Dubai World Trade Centre to acquaint attendees with means of taking the mobile commerce industry in the MENA region to the next level.

At the region's largest smart card, payment and ID event, Tuffaha also delivered a power point presentation in which he tackled the e-financial services currently used in various territories around the globe, factors of their success, and remedies to the challenges facing the implementation of mobile wallet.

“Because of modern technologies and the quickly growing world of smart device security systems, cell phones have become one of the most vital economic tools that businesses utilize to boost their services and expand their business networks,” Tuffaha said.

“However, there are challenges that are still hampering the success of regional m-commerce industry, especially among people over 50 years old, inspite of the fact that most e-payment systems encompass groundbreaking security technologies that guarantee a high standard of user data protection. Lack of trust in mobile payment technologies, fear of fraud, and desire to obtain physical receipts when making a purchase are among these challenges,” Tuffaha added.

During a panel discussion about the wallet wars and competition between operators, Tuffaha said: “All concerned government agencies and private sector institutions should realize that joining efforts towards building an integrated and secure payment system is essential for providing effective products and services as well as enforcing a smooth transition towards a digital economy,” stressing that smart device e-payment applications should continuously be developed to offer services that people need in their everyday life, such as payment and queries for banking, ticketing, money transfer, consumer loyalty programs, parking and transportation, health services and bill payment for utilities, communications, and various services.

It is worth mentioning that Cards and Payments Middle East is the region's largest smart card, payment and ID event that brings together payments and identity leaders from across the globe to share the latest practices and techniques in this field.