MENA och Zwipe

poki
IDEX 21.04.2022 kl 14:48 1709

Here, inside one of the company's offices, Ramzi Al-Sabouri appears with Marie Kolstad and Pshwajt
However, the first question that comes to mind on this important occasion revolves around the following: What has been achieved in terms of the ZWIPE biometric card this year? As for the answer, we heard it from Mr. Ramzi al-Sabouri himself, who told us:

In fact, and in a simplified and quick reading of what has been achieved over the past year, we can see that six countries from the Arab world and Africa entered the ZWIPE axis, the first of which is Jordan, the second of which is Egypt, the third of Iraq, the fourth of Libya and the fifth of Saudi Arabia, without forgetting Lebanon, which Despite the challenges and its successive crises, I was able to sign agreements with three banks, which are expected to introduce their biometric cards soon in the Lebanese market. It is true that the six countries mentioned are the “egg,” as it is said in the MENA region, but it must be noted that efforts are continuing to acquire many companies and countries. In this context, it was pointed out that Kuwait is today on the way to join ZWIPE, as well as Qatar, Bahrain and the Sultanate of Oman, and discussions with some of their banks have gone a long way. It is worth noting that the countries we mentioned are among the capable countries in the MENA region, given that the economy of most of them is based on oil. We have previously talked about “insurance and banking” and we stopped at length at three countries: Iraq, Egypt and Jordan, but in the short period before the completion of the first year, an agreement was reached with the “Medium Bank” in Libya, which is one of the major banks. There is no doubt that Libya’s entry into this agreement, which is an oil country that is on the path to economic recovery, is of great importance because it needs a biometric card, especially since the wave sweeping the world today is the electronic wave, and it is no longer possible to rely on the traditional methods.


At Oslo Airport to meet the members of the general management of the company coming from all over the world, and it appears Ramzi Al-Sabouri (first from right) and Andrei Lovestam
Q: What are the most prominent results with banks?

A: What we must highlight are four important things, the first of which is that the company "Visa" that operates these cards, issued the certification of the product, meaning that it confirmed that the ZWIPE biometric card is ready for commercial issuance. Accordingly, this certificate has been circulated to all factories producing smart cards all over the world. We are waiting for MasterCard to issue a similar certification certificate in the next period.

The second important point lies in our agreement with the Qatar Financial Technology Center (QFTH) to attract all companies in the field of electronic payment, and Qatar has insisted on establishing this platform, coinciding with the World Cup, which will start before the end of this year. The platform in which VISA, as one of the main partners, is involved is sponsored by the Qatar Development Bank (QDB). It is interesting here that ZWIPE entered into this partnership as well. Therefore, we have no doubts that this biometric card will be highly attractive to Qatari banks, as millions of people are expected to visit Qatar, from all over the world, to watch the FIFA World Cup.


Flight from Beirut to Oslo
As for the third point, which is: What after ZWIPE? The answer: The company has recently launched, in addition to the biometric payment card, the ZWIPE ACCESS card, a product that deals with everything related to communication, and this card will be used in airports and in sensitive areas where the visitor needs to be introduced. So, it is a “passage card” to these centers that only those who are authorized to enter can enter.

The fourth and final point remains, and may be the most important, which is that ZWIPE has expanded from North Africa to the entire continent, especially where there is a population density such as Nigeria, Ghana, and South Africa.. Within this framework, I was sent a special invitation to participate remotely in the Lafferty Group, It is one of the most important consulting firms in the world and its headquarters are in London. I personally consider this participation the most important and prestigious meeting that takes place in the world at the level of retail banking. Perhaps the highlight of this year’s participants is the focus of the participants on the African continent, which is why all the managers of banks in Africa participated in this meeting, and I had an intervention about the ZWIPE card and its role in preventing financial crimes, thefts and piracy. As a result of this remote meeting, it can be said that the ZWIPE biometric card will also be widespread in the most important continent in the world in terms of rapid growth, as well as in terms of significant economic movement.

Q : What next?

A: After the pillars of ZWIPE were built, the practical implementation phase began, and from here I expect that the second half of 2022 will be the beginning of the phase of implementation, issuance and availability of cards in the hands of people, as the banks that have been agreed with are supposed to start launching
Slettet bruker
21.04.2022 kl 16:56 1554

Meget bra :-) Spennende! Her gjelder det Ä fÄ plassert seg godt i Idex og Zwipe aksjene nÄ pÄ disse priser!
heiltfint
21.04.2022 kl 20:24 1345

Fine Poki, kan du dele kilde / link ?
poki
21.04.2022 kl 21:43 1233

On the subject of the cash shortage crisis ...
Look for the corrupt system!
Ramzi Al-Sabouri: The solution exists
with seven large banks, and they
must activate their financial portfolios
in the Central Bank so that
payment can be made over the phone!

03/19/2022

Ramzi Al-Sabouri... The solution is there, so move the system away!

When the conversation is related to credit cards and what they have and what is on them, Mr. Ramzi Al-Sabouri is the one who is qualified among many to talk about it, and he has spent in this profession and experienced it and struggled in it, which allows him to give the right opinion when asked the question.


Withdrawing through banking machines..the quota must be raised
Ramzi al-Sabouri is well known not only in Lebanon, his motherland, but also in Arab and regional countries, as well as Western countries, as evidenced by his selection by the Norwegian company ZWIPE, the first of its kind in the world, to be its general manager in the Middle East. and Africa, and to add to his previous experience in Visa and Areeba (specializing in electronic payment technology), additional experience.


Riad Salameh... The political reference impedes solutions
And because what happened in the recent period in terms of legalizing “cash” withdrawals in the Lebanese currency and the decision of supermarkets to pay the bill value from bank card holders by 50 percent withdrawal and 50 percent in cash, made the citizen trapped between the jaws of banks and his daily and monthly obligations, it was necessary to go To Mr. Ramzi Al-Sabouri to know the dimensions of this crisis and ways to treat it, if there are ways to treat, based on his experience and follow-up to this problem that undermines advanced banking methods, especially credit cards at a time when the world abandoned paper currency and the International Monetary Fund demanded the adoption of this method, in payment and repayment For several purposes, the most important of which are fighting corruption, tax evasion, money laundering, and so on...

With Ramzi Al-Sabouri, the following conversation was held:


Banks Street..The International Monetary Fund prohibits cash at all or else
Q: Today, Lebanon's banking situation resembles the situation of the Kurdish city of Erbil (Iraq) before the last stage of the renaissance, when people, at that time, refused to deal with banks and kept their money in homes. What is happening with us, and has the stage of retrogression reached the point of eliminating the simplest means of progress embodied by modern technology?

A: Let me highlight, first, the development that we have witnessed in technology, specifically in the banking sector. Years ago, we used to sing that Lebanon is the country from which everything new and development in the Middle East and North Africa region, at least, originates. But regardless of what is happening today, when the International Monetary Fund activates its discussions on the issue of Lebanon’s debt and how to lend it, its first condition will be not to deal with “cash” and to prevent its circulation completely, as happened exactly in Iraq. This is because when the International Monetary Fund lent Baghdad, its first and basic condition was the adoption of electronic payment, which greatly limits the mechanism of corruption, money smuggling, money laundering, tax evasion, and so on...

As for credit cards, the topic of our conversation, the solutions are there, but they are still “sleeping” in the drawers! Why? This is a secret that no one can answer. Does this have anything to do with the quotas of the ruling system?

As a reminder, and as everyone knows, transferring money from one bank to another for small amounts is an expensive process. Therefore, two years ago, companies and banks created electronic wallets to transfer from this bank to that, through the electronic application, and it has been declared. But the Banque du Liban has two economic and political references, one positive and the other negative, in addition to the presence of money transfer companies that deal in “cash” affiliated with some currents. The political reference may have interfered in this project and stopped it, and the goals here are known, either because they are afraid of this procedure, which It can affect them in terms of money smuggling, deals and tax evasion, or because there are money transfer companies affiliated with them and they benefit from them in light of the current situation.

The main and important question remains: Why does Lebanon, which was a very advanced country at the banking level, still lag behind, in the public sector, for electronic payment? The answer is clear: the reason is tax evasion and money smuggling! Here it must be noted that the Credit Libanais Bank recently obtained, after a long wait, the approval of the Banque du Liban, to use a financial wallet that makes those who wish to transfer an amount of money to another person, able through a message via a mobile phone, on the example of “smart” Which wereeba dealt with, and ByblosPay from Byblos Bank and BlomPay from Lebanon and the Diaspora and others... In fact, all banks established financial portfolios on the name of their bank, bearing in mind that the fees for these financial transfers are very small, and it is not necessary for a person to have a bank account, as That the banks obtained from the Banque du Liban, and for these financial portfolios only, an approval to set a reserve amount of money for this operation. Here I would like to testify:

Q: Where is the role of the Governor of the Banque du Liban here?

A: I do not know what the relationship between the governor of the Banque du Liban is with this system, but what I do know is that there are solutions. The financial portfolios are still present in the banks, but the number of dealers in them is very small, because the state did not work to market them, otherwise it would have encouraged all people to deal with them and stop using “cash” in any way... But what do we do by obstructing the corrupt?!

Q: What should we do today when we are in a big dilemma over the supermarket's decision to collect the bills value 50 percent in paper currency and 50 percent in credit card ?

A: Let me be clear, where is the money paid by cards “locked up”? Of course, in the banks, that is, with those who say that they are facing a crisis! Second question: Who gives the supermarket payment machines? Isn't it the banks? Who takes the money and locks it up, isn't it the banks? Therefore, I say: O bank managers, meet with the Central Bank to come up with solutions, including, most notably, payment through financial portfolios from one person to another, especially since payment in this way does not stop! Why were these governors not activated in this crisis? Awareness exists among banks and the Banque du Liban, but its activation is not mitigated because of the political system, and there is no other reason!

Q: If I were the governor of the Banque du Liban. How did you behave?

A: I was at the beginning, I gathered the managers of the banks that have a financial portfolio of about seven banks, and I told them that I want to encourage this technology in order to reduce the payment of large amounts of money (cash). To implement this solution, I instructed to conduct media campaigns about these existing and licensed wallets, how to transfer from one person to another, and their cost, which may be one percent, for example. It is known that the method of payment in this way benefits the Banque du Liban, banks, consumers and money remitters all, but it is negatively reflected on the system alone.

Today we are in dire need of these financial portfolios, and they exist and have a legal license, and all the large banks have obtained the approval of the Central Bank, so why not use them, knowing that small banks can obtain the license easily because of the approval of the Banque du Liban, which had issued a circular to all banks Almost two years ago, every financial institution, and he meant banks, had the right to create a financial portfolio, according to the conditions he sent.

Today we need to implement this mechanism in order to get out of the predicament we are in, otherwise we are heading to print more paper currency, and as you know and everyone knows, printing currency leads to inflation!

I repeat and ask myself and ask everyone, is there anyone who is harmed by this operation other than the one who does not want the interest of the country and is looking for his personal interests?!

Q: How are things going with this payment method, and how can a person withdraw money?

A: This method is not for withdrawing money in cash. Rather, it is a payment method that revolves from one person to another even if he does not have a bank account. For example, if you wanted to pay the mechanic a sum of 100,000 pounds, he transferred it to him through this financial wallet, and he received a message that he had obtained this amount. This amount remains in his wallet, and in turn, if he wants to pay the electricity bill, he must transfer the amount from his wallet to the collector’s wallet, and so on
 without using “cash”.

Q: If a person's phone is lost, for example, or he loses the information inside, how can he get his money?

A: In electronic wallets in the world, the ID number is always the user and not the device number, even if the phone is lost, so the person concerned has a secret number to identify his identity that can be used from any phone. This method is very safe, and the Bank of Lebanon investigated a lot about it before agreeing to it and giving licenses, after three years of studies and discussions.

Q: Pending the implementation of this solution, which is obstructed by the political system, are there other simpler solutions?

poki
21.04.2022 kl 21:43 1229

Q: Pending the implementation of this solution, which is obstructed by the political system, are there other simpler solutions?

A: After supermarkets start charging half of the bill in cash, other establishments will quickly follow suit and card payment machines will be withdrawn from the market. In my opinion, the issue is related to the banks, as the money paid by cards flows into their boxes, so they have to collect it in a special wallet for merchants to benefit from, as it did with the issue of “banking” that helped people with a little limited income to have a profit and a breath to be able to continue.

There are two solutions currently available: first, activating the wallets of seven banks, but while waiting, there is a second solution, which is to increase the “financial quota” of merchants, and in this case the consumer is comfortable and can pay via cards. Here, the banks must meet and create a wallet dedicated to the money issued by cards, on the one hand, and they must reduce discretion on the other hand, so that some of them do not allow merchants to withdraw the value of five percent of the money that comes from the machines, while other banks allow other merchants Twenty percent! This is a flop! The ratios should not differ between one bank and another, nor between a bank branch and another branch of the same bank, so as not to reach
heiltfint
21.04.2022 kl 23:00 1104

takker Poki, liker kreativ leting etter ny informasjon :)
Redigert 21.04.2022 kl 23:08 Du mÄ logge inn for Ä svare
poki
21.04.2022 kl 23:57 1032

🙏🚀