EBL launches Skypay for online transactions
Eastern Bank has launched EBL Skypay, an online payment system, to serve the growing e-commerce sector.
Skypay will use the MasterCard payment gateway service, allowing merchants to give customers a “simple, safe, secure and convenient” way to buy products and services online, EBL said in a statement yesterday.
This is the first commercial deployment of MasterCard payment gateway in Bangladesh, which connects over 180 countries around the world and is hosted across multiple data centres, processing more than 1.3 billion online transactions a year for over 35,000 merchants globally, according to the statement.
Shameem Ahsan, president of Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services; Vikas Varma, executive director for South Asia of MasterCard International; Ali Reza Iftekhar, managing director and chief executive of EBL; and Fahim Mashroor, convener of BASIS eCommerce Alliance and chairman of ajkerdeal.com, attended the event in Dhaka.
“Merchants can now easily and securely liaise with customers online to receive payments for goods and services,” said Vikas Varma, executive director of South Asia of MasterCard International.
Skypay will allow Bangladeshi business and service houses to accept payments by any MasterCard or Visa card through internet or mobiles, making trade possible anywhere and anytime, it said.
“MasterCard Payment Gateway Services will also give the customers confidence as it's widely trusted by those worried about fraud,” said Shameem Ahsan, president of BASIS.
The gateway is maintained to the standards required by both MasterCard and Visa, including changes mandated by the twice-yearly releases, and is also compliant of the payment card industry's data security standard.
Also, Skypay has very strict criteria for accepting merchants, and the system features extreme security features including data encryption, with all the data processed, stored or transmitted with guaranteed confidentiality.
“Eastern Bank is proud to be the first bank in Bangladesh to launch the MasterCard Payment Gateway services and offer merchants and customers the most useful and secure means to transact online,” said Ali Reza Iftekhar, managing director and CEO of the bank.