UNISAME URGES COMMERCIAL BANKS FOR e-PAYMENT GATEWAY FACILITIESS

Call to facilitate payment processing companies
KARACHI, The Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (UNISAME) has urged the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to persuade the commercial banks to facilitate the payment processing companies to begin their operations in Pakistan to promote e-Commerce for online trading.

President UNISAME Zulfikar Thaver said SBP has authorized the commercial banks to establish e-payment gateways and to become e-Payment Gateway Operators (e-PG) but the banks are lethargic and the SMEs are unable to do e-commerce smoothly and meet the global challenges.

Salman Merchant, the UK-based IT consultant to UNISAME, said in the absence of an international payment processing companies, it was very important and essential for the commercial banks to introduce payment processing gateways on war footings to facilitate and promote the e-merchants to enable them sell online.

He said that there was global demand for Pakistani leather goods, apparel, food items, sports goods. He emphasized that there was regular demand overseas for special items like wedding clothes, Multani halwa, Pakistani barfi, ajrak and caps, Salman further elaborated that all over the world e-commerce had caught and even third world countries had set up e-payment gateways and it was unfortunate that Pakistan was lacking behind.

Salman appreciated the role of UNISAME with institutional support from the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) and outlined the various steps for rapid e-commerce and third country merchant business to enable the SMEs set up their companies for online indenting and exporting goods through internet exposures.

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