Dubai Department of Finance launches digital wallet designed to pay government fees

Dubai’s Department of Finance (DOF) has launched a new payment channel with Smart Dubai and emaratech. The digital wallet, ‘noqodi’ will allow citizens to pay government service fees under Dubai Pay. Abdulrahman Saleh Al Saleh, DOF director general is keen to improve government customer satisfaction through the use of the secure noqodi e-wallet and its accessible interface.

Jamal Hamed Al Marri, executive director of Central Accounts Sector at DOF, said: "The launch of noqodi comes in the context of the continuous efforts of the Government of Dubai to facilitate payments of government transactions. The new digital wallet is characterised by enabling high-volume transactions, which could reach up to millions of dirhams. This prepares government entities to stop accepting cheques and bank transfers.’

The noqodi option can be accessed through Dubai Pay gateway, and the Dubai Now smart application. Credit can be applied to the account through major banks such as Mashreq Bank, Emirates NBD, Emirates Islamic Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, Commercial Bank of Dubai and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank. Exchange Houses such as Al Ansari are also available to add credit, though DOF is working to expand the number of banks and Exchange Houses available to provide this service.

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Hamed Al Marri continued: "We have listed in a number of national banks and financial institutions that allow customers to feed the wallet with credit from their bank accounts, and we will include other financial entities in our list to enable a wider stake of customers to benefit from the digital wallet."

Wesam Lootah, CEO, Smart Dubai Government Establishment, said: "Through the consolidated efforts with its strategic partners, Smart Dubai is keen to improve the quality of government services offered to residents and visitors, in order to deploy innovative technologies to achieve greater efficiency in customer service, which, in turn, will contribute to making Dubai the happiest and smartest city in the world."