United Nations Public Service Awards Case Studies

The Royal Oman Police (ROP) provides various services to the public such as visa application, driving permit, collection of custom duties and traffic fines, etc which require cash transaction. Traditionally, cashier counters were put in place at the location to cater for the collection of cash and issue of receipt and changes.

Although this method had been widely used for very long time, it involves some risk, mistakes, and is time-consuming as well. Our cashier staff spent many hours accounting and balancing the cash accounts. The manual collection of cash was prone to numerous human errors, cheating and even theft. Furthermore, citizens and expatriates who comprised our social groups would have to bring cash to pay for the services at the respective locations. Sometimes large amount of cash depending on their transaction. During peak hours, they would have to wait for at least half an hour to complete their transaction and settle the cash. With the technology advancement in cashless payment and internet security, the ROP decided to evaluate and seek technology-based solutions to eradicate the errors, fraud and tediousness in cash transactions for our services. In addition, providing our customers with ease of payment mode anywhere, anytime.

By adopting electronic mode of payment, the ROP is able to enhance our efficiency and effectiveness in delivering our services to the social groups. Payment by electronic bank cards is a reliable, simple, easy, safe and time-saving way. It protects from cheating and theft, especially when large amounts of money are transported from one place to another. Electronic transactions eradicate the need to process physical cash and eliminate human errors in accounting.

When electronic payment transaction was first introduced in 2008, non-banking citizens and residences of Oman, who do not carry debit or credit cards, could not transact electronically. This social group (non-banking citizens and residences) were affected by the new system. This situation causes delay in finishing transactions, annoyance and dissatisfaction among the citizens and residences. Thus, even the citizen and residences who used to carry cash and do not trust to use their bank card in any transactions other than withdrawal from ATMs have rejected the new situation. The aim of cashless society in Oman is to eliminate of all cash transactions. The local banks start issuing prepaid cards but they were not accepted widely too. The smart ID cards holders were expecting the implementation of the ePurse as one of these cards application before adopting the bank cards payment system in the government offices. The Omani ID and Residence Cards offer e-service applications such as ePurse. The ROP then decided to start integrating ePurse solution with ID cards as a service to the convenience of all ID card holders.

What is the initiative about? (the solution)
The ROP is the authority responsible for the issuing of the National Identity Card. Since every citizen and resident carry the ID card, it will be handy for them to use the same card to do electronic payment. This is possible as the card contained embedded chip which can be used for multiple applications. The national identity card and residence card is the basis of the e-government in the country. Royal Oman Police introduced the ePurse scheme through the identity card and residence card issued by the Directorate General of Civil Status. The scheme is a step forward in the payment of government charges. More than 3 millions of these cards have been issued which made this project very challenging and ambitious since it should allow the cards, both already issued and those yet to be issued, to implement the ePurse and support the associated services. EPurse solution allows both citizens and residences to store and top-up money in their National Identity and Residence Cards issued and use them as a mode of payment besides credit and debit cards. This not only helps government departments to collect payment for their services but also allows citizens and residences, who do not carry a debit or credit card, to transact electronically. . The launch of this state-of-the-art technology — designed to help those bulky wallets bow out for good — could well mark the beginning of a cashless society. Users may top-upa value from RO 5 up to RO 1000. Users also do not require a bank account to use this service. Once the ePurse is topped-up with money, it can then be used to make payments at all government offices. Once the money is exhausted, the ePurse can be topped-up again. The benefits of ePurse are that it greatly reduces fraud, theft and cash handling costs; is a highly secure system and provides more choice for customers. The payments to government and private establishments are eased and the management of money is more flexible as transfers are cashless. It is not necessary to open a bank account or obtain any other bankcard as the existing national identity or residence card will suffice for payments as well as it is safer than carrying cash. There is more privacy and security in financial transactions. There is no requirement to pay commissions to any other parties as the entire system is managed within the Sultanate of Oman and transactions is not be routed through international payment switches outside the country. The procedures of revenue monitoring, government taxes and statistical accuracy will be easier to compile and track as will the process of tracing transactions. The ePurse mode of payment has sped up the number of transactions. The number of transaction increased up to 22,681 ID cards per month and 50,154 resident cards monthly. While the birth, death, marriage and divorce entries are up to 6,887 transactions per month. There is also significant time savings by using the ePurse mode of payment. The average time to pay the transaction fees by using ePurse payment only takes 8 second as compared to 25.5 second by using electronic bank cards and 3 minutes by cash transaction.

Who proposed the solution, who implemented it and who were the stakeholders?
The National Registration System (NRS) is an integrated computer system designed to store, process and retrieve data when needed. It includes data on identity cards for Omanis and residence cards for residences. Introduced as part of the national e-Governance initiative, the ePurse, embedded on national ID and residence cards, is the first of its kind in the region. Implemented by the Royal Oman Police (ROP), in association with the Information Technology Authority (ITA), Bank Muscat, and Gemalto the national ePurse project revolutionise cash transactions in the Sultanate. Astute/NETS customize cash card management system to Bank Muscat requirement. The proposal of using the ePurse application in the National ID card was initiated by the Royal Oman Police (ROP) when it started using the Point of Sale terminals (POS) at all major police departments at the beginning of 2008. The terminals were used to collect ROP revenues and accepted all the major credit and debit cards for making these payments. ROP, ITA, Bank Muscat and Gemalto started exploring the feasibility of the ePurse scheme and drafted a strategy for the ePurse application implementation. Subsequently in 2008, the team considered various alternatives and suggested the best option of the ePurse technology/software to be deployed taking into consideration that this technology and software should be open and allow all the banks in Oman to be able to join the system network after the Pilot phase period. The project in currently in the action phase for nationwide implementation. ROP plays a significant role in the first phase of the implementation and is an active partner of the steering committee established for this strategic implementation. Along side the Phase1 implementation, ITA has parallely begin the implementation of Phase 2 where it will host the ePurse application in-house. During this phase wider usage of the ePurse application by all the banks in Oman whether as acquirers or issuers will be possible.

Describe how and when the initiative was implemented by answering these questions
a. What were the strategies used to implement the initiative? In no more than 500 words, provide a summary of the main objectives and strategies of the initiative, how they were established and by whom.
NRS is a national project supported by the Oman government. Introduced as part of the national e-Governance initiative, the ePurse, embedded on national ID and residence cards, is the first of its kind in the region. ROP is the project owner and work in close association with the Information Technology Authority (ITA) and Bank Muscat. The development of the application was awarded to Gemalto and in cooperation of Astute/NETS (Singapore) who customized the cash card management system to Bank Muscat requirement. The main objectives and strategies of the ePurse is to permit both Citizens and the Residences to store /load money in their National ID and Residence Card and use this to make payments using electronic means, besides to credit and debit cards. Both the National Identity Card and the Residence Card are a mandatory requirement for all citizens and residences of Oman respectively. Thus, even non-banking citizens and residences of Oman, who do not carry debit or credit cards, can pay electronically. This scheme will bring about greater benefits for all government entities that will collect payment for their services using the credit/debit cards and the ePurse application residing in the National Identity and the Residence Cards.

b. What were the key development and implementation steps and the chronology? No more than 500 words
- 03 January 2004: National Registration System (NRS) was launched - 04 January 2004: The new Electronic Omani Identity card was issued. - 15 May 2004: The new Residence card was issued. - 2005 Completion of all the project buildings, centers, facilities in all the country regions. - 2006 – 2007 All the details of the functions, administrative structure and programme of action of the D.G. of Civil Status were completed. - 2008 o The proposal of using the ePurse application in the National ID card was initiated by the Royal Oman Police (ROP). o Negotiation with “Visa” and “MasterCard” companies to provide ePurse solution in the Omani Identity card and Residence card. o Choosing Astute/NETS (Singapore) and Bank Muscat to implement the project. Astute/NETS customize cash card management system to Bank Muscat requirement - 6th of January 2009, The Information Technology Authority (ITA) along with the Royal Oman Police (ROP) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Bank Muscat and Gemalto for the implementation of the first phase (pilot phase) of the ePurse application which is integrated into the National Identity and Residence Card of the Sultanate. The signing ceremony was held on the. A committee started working on this project and decided to implement a nation wide ePurse scheme based on MPCOS that is available on all the Omani National Identity cards. This ePurse application is hosted on them and Bank Muscat (BM) developed and lunched it to promote electronic payment as requested by the Oman government. - First phase started on 27 July 2009: Omani citizens and residents have started activating the e-purse application in their electronic ID cards which enables them to pay for distractive fees, such as birth certificates, car registration, driver license and visa applications. - Second phase around 2010, The project will be completed by second phase. The solution is expected to be rolled out progressively into 2010 with all banks in Oman participating in the ePurse initiative. At the same time, government agencies and retailers will be able to collect payment via the card.

c. What were the main obstacles encountered? How were they overcome? No more than 500 words
There are always obstacles encountered with any new scheme. One of the greatest challenges in the adoption of a new payment device is establishing a critical mass of users. Regardless of the type of technology used, consumers are reluctant to use a new payment instrument if few merchants accept it, and merchants refuse to accept the device because the cost of installing and maintaining the supporting technology infrastructure, like card readers. Hard working and efforts of all partners and readiness of the citizens and residents to accept the new technology make the scheme to go smoothly. All the obstacles, financial, software, hardware, project schedule, public opinion, technology infrastructure and details were overcome through the hard working and effort of Royal Oman Police and their stakeholders. They defined the risk and obstacles of the scheme and set clear objectives and specification and they bear the fruit. Royal Oman Police took great efforts to the appointment of skilled staff for the scheme. Moreover, the Directorate of Public Relations (ROP), ITA and Bank Muscat were entrusted with task of spreading awareness on the significance of the project in the media for citizens, residences, government institutions and private sector. Many meetings and seminars with the stakeholders had bear the benefits and they allied to make the scheme a success. The strong commitment of Gemalto team enabled them to meet the timescale of the projects. Bank Muscat act as an issuer of the ePurse provides the Point of sale (POS terminals) network of the bank facilities card-based transaction at ROP directorates, ministries and government establishment. ITA is working to host the ePurse system in-house and expand the application to all banks in Oman and to be used also in other private establishments.

d. What resources were used for the initiative and what were its key benefits? In no more than 500 words, specify what were the financial, technical and human resources’ costs associated with this initiative. Describe how resources were mobilized
Initiating a new and major system requires investment in many resources. All the financials, technical and human resources were mobilized towards achieving the objectives and goals of the system harmonically with good management of resources and the results is introducing the project successfully. Global specification was done by all stakeholders (ROP, Gemalto, Astute, Bank Muscat and ITA). Customization: Enrollment Terminal and Server was ROP and Gemalto responsibility, Enrollment Workstation and ECR (Electronic Cash Register) was provided by Bank Muscat, Astute is providing Payment Terminal (PIN acceptance) as well as language localization for all terminal applications and backend reports.

Is the initiative sustainable and transferable?
Since ePurse is a national project, it received unyielding support from all the beneficiaries, government institutions and private sectors. The government sustains the project financially. The culture of the citizen and residences in Oman were helpful for initiation of the project because it is beneficial to them The ROP by spearheading the ePurse project ensures that they remain one of the leading organizations in the Sultanate who uses Information Technology to bring about efficiency and effectiveness in e-Government. Apart from reducing cash handling costs; the ePurse is a highly secured system and provides more choice for customers. Besides the personal identification features, the ID card offers a number of in-built options facilitating a wide range of services. The ePurse, developed as part of the ambitious national e-Governance initiative, uses the state-of-the-art chip which is embedded onto the national ID and residence cards and this is the first of its kind in the region. The Sultanate joins the few countries in the world which have adopted the ePurse technology. This marks a significant milestone in its e-Governance initiative launched on the directive of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos to equip the country in line with the 21st century technological advancement. The ePurse is used in some Asian countries such as Singapore and Malaysia. In neighboring United Arab Emirates, a nationwide ID card programme has been launched. They are working with Gemalto Company to develop their national ePurse. Bahrain is on the way to adopt the ePurse technology scheme to be used in their national ID card.

What are the impact of your initiative and the lessons learned?
Both Royal Oman Police and other ePurse project stockholders have learned many lessons that are being applied in final stage s of introduction of pilot phase and further into the second phase. EPurse integration with Identity/Residence card is one of the e-government applications. In order to satisfy one of the ROP’s initial objectives of engaging and promoting e-Government applications as national ePurse, embedded on national Id and resident cards, Astute/NETS is able to offer payment expertise that is trusted secured ,reliable and accepted by Omani government and Gemalto. To achieve this project Gemalto provided consulting services, project management as well as support and maintenance. The Sultanate of Oman has recognized that smart card technology provides the ideal means to mange personal credential and to provide a secure, reliable and flexible platform for public services and security. Learning from the services of other nations, Oman has adopted a state –of-art open and flexible solution that is capable of standing the test of time. Lessons learned from the Oman ePurse projects: EPurse system offers various advantages for consumers, merchants and government. It offers a comfortable and modern financial solution with useful additional functionalities. Government gets a clear picture of many flows, helpful for providing convenience payment choices. Also fraud is reduced and the many flows are made more fluent. On the other hand, finding a best option of the ePurse technology/software was a challenge. The team considered various alternatives and suggested the best option of the ePurse technology/software to be deployed taking into consideration that this technology and software should be open and allow all the banks in Oman to be able to join the system network after the Pilot phase period. NETS solution was the best one that satisfied the ePurse integration with Oman I ID card. ITA as the excellence institute responsible about developing e-society in Oman is providing all the consultant and infrastructures required to make the ePurse with visible intended impacts.


Institution Name:		Directorate General of Civil Status- Royal Oman Police
Institution Type:		Government Agency
Contact Person:		Yahya Al Hamimi
Title:		Head of Public Relation Department
Telephone/ Fax:		+ (968)24521951
Institution's / Project's Website:		+ (968)24521927
E-mail:		yahya.alhamaimi@dgcs.gov.om
Address:		P O Box 871
Postal Code:		111
City:		Muscat
State/Province:		Muscat
Country:		Oman

The Problem

Solution and Key Benefits

Actors and Stakeholders

(a) Strategies

(b) Implementation

(c) Overcoming Obstacles

(d) Use of Resources

Sustainability and Transferability

Lessons Learned

Contact Information