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The Palestine Monetary Authority Launches a Campaign to Encourage Payment Through Points of Sale at Petrol Stations

The Palestine Monetary Authority Launches a Campaign to Encourage Payment Through Points of Sale at Petrol Stations

14-9-2022

The Palestine Monetary Authority (PMA) in Ramallah, in cooperation with the Ministry of Finance/ General Petroleum Corporation and the Gas Station Owners Syndicate, launched a campaign to encourage citizens to pay at petrol stations using ATM cards at points of sale (POS). Mr. Eyad Zeitawi, Executive Director of the PMA's Financial Stability Group, Mr. Magdi Al-Hassan, Director of the Palestinian General Petroleum Corporation, and the General Directors of POS Service Providers (Arab Bank, Bank of Palestine, and Middle East Payment Services Company (MEPS)) and representatives of petrol stations, electronic payment service companies, and banks were present.

Mr. Eyad Zeitawi explained during his speech at the launch ceremony that the launch of this campaign falls within the framework of encouraging citizens and owners of fuel stations to switch to electronic payment and reduce dealing in cash, noting the importance of this in lowering costs to consumers and fuel stations and enabling those stations to manage cash and reduce the risks associated with  keeping it, as well as not being obliged for cash depositing and associated transactional commissions. He indicated that this campaign will be supported by a grace period of six months decreasing the trader’s commission cost to %0.0.

Mr. Zeitawi affirmed that the cardholder bears no additional fees on the value of his purchases during payment through points of sale, and that the commission imposed on merchants has been reduced and fixed so that it is (0.5%) maximum after it was up to (3%), which is a very low percentage compared to previous ratios as well as compared to neighboring countries. He emphasized that the PMA does not collect any fees for system transactions.

Mr. Zeitawi referred to the initiatives of the PMA to enhance the use of electronic payment channels by obliging banks to issue an ATM card for each account opened, as well as allowing payment companies to issue prepaid cards (whether through an e-wallet or without) enabling users who do not have bank accounts to enjoy the benefits available to bank customers in using cards in payment and purchase through POS or e-commerce.

Mr. Magdi Al-Hassan, Director of the General Petroleum Corporation, emphasized the importance of moving to electronic payment at gas stations because of its significant impact on facilitating citizens' use of modern payment methods easily and safely, as well as that this transformation will allow them to benefit from gas station services 24 hours a day through self-service in the future.

Mr. Al-Hassan explained that the adoption of electronic payment at gas stations will help to overcome many of the obstacles that gas stations face, particularly the accumulation of cash. Additionally, it will save them the cost of transferring these funds to banks, which is especially important given the difficulties and health and security changes that may occur at any time.

During the event, POS service providers presented presentations on the mechanics of gas station subscription to the POS service, the benefits they would gain, and gas station owners' views and questions about paying via the point of sale were taken into consideration.

It is worth noting that the West Bank has approximately 190 gas stations, and the percentage of stations with POS installed is approximately 80%. As of the end of the second quarter of 2022, the total number of POS in all sectors reached 10,744, and the total number of debit cards was 1,362,687 cards.

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