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Q & A with Ashraf Dimitri

Ashraf Dimitri, ceo of Canada-head quartered Oasis Technology, a leading provider of software to enable payments through any interface, which has a collaboration with HMA Starware in India, was in Mumbai recently and met with BT’s Roshni Jayakar. Excerpts from the interview:

Q. Today, consumers want greater flexibility in how and when they manage their finances, and greater control over the information they receive. What are the new developments do you see in ePayments ?

A. When talk about ePayments it is the convenience factor and ability to provide consolidated capability. Every country is approaching ePayments at different pace. But some of the developments include a chip card or a smart card. Instead of having several different cards in your wallet, you can have a single chip. It’s a piece of plastic plastic carrying a microchip that can be used for credit, debit, electronic cash and a host of loyalty programs. Such a card can solve problems of frauds, customers can have a stronger customer tie, there is ease of use and communications problems between the bank and the customer disappear.

Apart from smart cards, other options include re-loadable cards, non-card payment options like mobile phones, PDAs and other hand held devices.

Q. What is the key to success of these ePayments products?

A. The key is identification, verification and security. As long as you provide all three, which credit and debit cards provide today, its possible to use any vehicle.

Q. From a bank point of view are these payment solutions cost-effective?

A. Definitely. Banks have to compete to attract customers. Customers want more convenience and are putting pressure on banks to provide multi channel options. The only way for banks to grow is lower the cost. EPayments software provides the ability to have cost effective relationships. Part of that is the ability to have single unified architecture where you just plug new products or touch points quickly. Touch points whether its ATM, self-service terminal, or even a teller in a branch, have to provide the same homogenous information to the consumer.

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