Dubai Launches Digital Currency Payments For Citizens

Dubai citizens just got a nice treat from their local credit bureau – emcredit which is state sponsored.

The company recently partnered up with Ebooc Fintech & Loyalty Lab and blockchain payment provider Pundi X to launch a digital currency platform that will allow citizens to make daily payments with the official digital currency.

Thanks to this partnership, residents can now pay a lot of their daily bills with a digital currency.

The new digital currency is called emcash and will allow consumers to pay for a variety of products and services ranging from school fees to utility bills. The emcash digital currency will be accepted throughout Dubai as emcredit is backed by the Dubai Department of Economic Development. This provides the citizens of Dubai the assurance that their payments will be accepted with no problems.

The heart of the operation is the point-of-sale device from Pundi X, which was created exclusively to be used with emcredit. This will ensure that the new emcredit currency will be as stable as the UAE dirham.

In a statement, an emcredit spokesperson said

To be the world's first city to offer blockchain-based payment solutions to our residents is an exciting moment for Dubai. It confirms Dubai's status as an international tech hub. Deploying cutting-edge technology such as blockchain is a key priority and is delivering benefits to our citizens in the form of convenience and securities to customers and merchants across Dubai.

Pundi X To Install 100,000 POS Devices

These sentiments were echoed by the various companies involved. Zac Cheah, the CEO of Pundi X, pointed out that allowing blockchain payments for government bills is a big step for the growth of digital currency and Pundi X was honored to be a partner in the project.

Abdalla Al Shamsi, the co-founder of Ebooc, is equally delighted. He thinks that allowing Dubai consumers the chance to pay via digital currency is a good move and will make things a lot easier for Dubai’s citizens. The rollout of this project will take place over a number of years as Pundi X has made plans to roll out over 100,000 blockchain POS unique devices that will be installed in various retail outlets across Dubai during the next 3 years.

Pundi X already has a great reputation by shipping thousands of payment devices to various markets like Brazil, Africa, Singapore and Korea. This was after raising $35 million in a recent token sale. This partnership will give the company public sector experience and will be the company’s first roll-out in the Middle East.