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With Bahrain’s global standing as an innovative business and financial hub continuing to increase at a rapid rate, one company has seen an opportunity to introduce a radical change to the way people pay for goods and services.
Payment International Enterprise (PIE) is hoping to introduce the ‘cashless dinar’ on a national scale, after successful trials conducted with local ministries.
And, an e-wallet, offering shoppers and diners contactless’ card payments, similar to those now used in the United Kingdom, is set to follow here in the near future, according to an entrepreneur pushing the boundaries towards a ‘cashless society’.
PIE’S CEO, Fawaz Ghazal said: “We have big plans for TAM Dinar. We are working with the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) and The Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) to be able to launch our e-Wallet and TAM Dinar will be a loading form for any unbanked or under-banked individuals, empowering them with an electronic payment method and giving them access to financial services.
“As part of Bahrain’s 2030 vision, PIE has been working closely with the government authorities to introduce an alternative payment method to start preparing for the cashless society.”
PIE has already established self-service kiosks as well as 2,200 mobile points of sale units spread across the country, under the brand name ‘TAM Here’, a name inspired by the local language referring to the word ‘done’.
This form of electronic dinar, or the ‘TAM Dinar’, is used when anyone with a cash payment heads to a TAM Here kiosk, defines the amount of dinars needed and inserts the cash into the machine. The receipt customers receive is the payment method.
“Bahrain residents’ preferred payment method at government authorities is still cash,” admitted Fawaz. “But cash management is costly and risky, and is a hurdle for government agencies who are working tirelessly to enhance transparency. That was an opportunity to offer our TAM Dinar solution, which is an electronic receipt issued from our kiosks and accepted as a payment method.
“The General Directorate of Traffic (GDT) was the first to enrol with the TAM Dinar and used it as an alternative to any cash payment done in its offices. To make things easier on their customers, GDT installed the PIE kiosks within their premises and helped promote this payment method, which helped it reduce costs and improve transparency. The Ministry of Justice (MOJ), Bahrain Polytechnic, Bahrain Customs, and the Electricity and Water Authority (EWA) have all joined this progressive initiative as well.”
Fawaz’ journey started in 2012 when he, alongside with chairman Tariq Al Saffar, identified opportunities for the introduction of digital wallets and alternative payment solutions. Discussions were then initiated with the Central Bank of Bahrain to start working on the license to set up the company, and in 2014 PIE was officially founded. Now, it is a Central Bank-licensed entity to operate as a Payment Service Provider (PSP), a card issuer, and an e-Money and e-Wallet issuer.
He explained: “Our Government partners are very pleased with this initiative. TAM Dinar has allowed them to be relieved from the burden of cash management and the risks that come with it; it has also allowed for better efficiency in cash reconciliation and collection. The proof of this success story is how more and more government entities are joining the project progressively after the GDT being the first to take part in this initiative.
“On the customers’ side, the user interface is very simple and the kiosks have multiple features to make the process easy, such as multi-currency acceptance, cash back functionality, re-issuance of receipt, and other options that make the process as easy as possible, giving them an alternative to cash payments if they don’t have debit/credit cards or simply do not wish to use them.
Fawaz and Tariq visited Singapore, the Philippines, Latin America, England and other countries to explore and learn from the best practices in financial innovation around the globe before launching the enterprise.
Fawaz believes that once the public see the electronic dinar in action, they will be willing to embrace the future. He said: “In technology there are fads, and then there are inventions that change our lives.
“Not every innovation is a necessity and not every automated aspect of our life adds value, but some technologies cater to a need and are easy to adapt to, that we cannot imagine our lives without them anymore.
“Our local market is no different, especially with the number of blue collar expats working in Bahrain, who are unbanked as well. The opportunity is there and the need is there, we just need to cater to this segment.”
The other major aspect of PIE’s strategy is the e-wallet, which is in the pipeline and due to see a launch in the next few months. According to Fawaz, this will have an intuitive interface to cater to all segments of the markets and will allow people to share wallets no matter where they are in the world.
He explained: “From those who need to remit money and pay bills abroad, to those who like to save together, travel together, share money, and more, basically everyone is included in our e-wallet and will get the chance to experience a cashless lifestyle. Multiple tools and features will help users make the best out of their finances and will have no need to login to any other financial platform.
“The e-wallet will first be launched in Bahrain but will expand to the GCC and the MENA region.”
Furthermore, he said, near-field communication (NFC) payments - such as the ‘contactless’ card payments now popular in the United Kingdom - QR code payments and mobile payments are all features that will be included in the e-wallet, in addition to wearables and any available payment method.
“Of course, this is a two-sided effort that will also require adoption on the merchants’ side to be enabled, but we are heading in the right direction,” added Fawaz.
