MANAMA: Epayments for government services saw a 29 per cent spike in the third quarter this year compared with last year, shows the Q3 eGovernment Channels Performance Monitoring report.
As many as 445,000 financial transactions amounting to a value of more than BD46 million were carried out between June and September 2019, a 24pc jump from last year.
During the same period, the National Portal and main eGovernment channel, Bahrain.bh also recorded notable growth in the usage of its services with visitors exceeding 2m.
It also recorded a 25pc jump in payments to BD39m, with the number of completed financial transactions increasing by 18pc.
The report revealed significant demand for a number of services, most notably the National Notification System (NotifyMe), which received more than 19,000 visits, a fourfold increase.
The ‘Apply for a Government Job Vacancy’ service logged nearly 37,000 visits, a two-fold increase.
Meanwhile, the University of Bahrain (UoB) textbook payment service received more than 28,000 visits, and the credit report issuance service received over 5,500 visits.
Compared to Q3 last year, the private notary service recorded a 10-fold increase in financial transactions, the relatively new traffic certificates issuance service saw its transactions double.
The ID Card issuance service recorded an increase of 59pc due to its linkage with an appointment booking service.
The use of applications through bahrain.bh/apps grew by 21pc to more than 99,000 transactions along with a 63pc increase in payments.
Meanwhile, payments for completed transactions in Q3 of 2019 grew by 61pc compared with Q3 of 2018, exceeding BD6m in value.
In addition, eGovernment platforms recorded usage and completed transaction increases of 18pc, and 10pc respectively during Q3 2019 compared with the same quarter last year.
The most active apps were GovEmployee, Government Directory, Sehati, eTraffic, and Electricity and Water applications.
Vehicle registration renewal, payment of traffic contraventions, and driving licence renewal are among services provided through apps that saw a major increase in transaction value during Q3 when compared with Q2.
This is in addition to other services such as the enquire and pay bills service as part of electricity and water services.
eGovernment platforms recorded usage increase of 18pc and completed transaction value increase of 10pc during the quarter.
According to International Trade Administration (ITA) of the US Department of Commerce, e-commerce is rapidly expanding in Bahrain.
This is because computer-literacy rates are high and businesses recognise the commercial value of the Internet.
Bahrain has an Internet penetration rate above 96pc, which has led to higher online shopping rates than in other GCC states.
The Electronic Transactions Law that recognises the validity of electronic transactions is also an enabler, it says.
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