Launching the electronic payment service for drinking water bills – Al-Hiwar Algeria

Today, Tuesday, the electronic payment service for drinking water consumption bills was launched for the benefit of customers of the Algerian Water Company, according to the partnership agreement signed in Algiers, between the company and the Professional Association of Banks and Financial Institutions.
The agreement was signed by the President of the Professional Association of Banks and Financial Institutions, Lazhar Latrash, and the General Manager of the Algerian Water Company, Mustafa Raqiq, in the presence of Minister of Finance Aziz Fayed, Minister of Irrigation Taha Derbal, and executives from the banking and water resources sectors.
This agreement will enable customers of Al Jazeera Water and its subsidiaries across the national territory, holders of the interbank card issued by all banks, as well as the golden card of Algeria Post, to pay their bills electronically via the Internet through the institution’s electronic platform or its electronic application, “Mayahi Mob”.
The agreement also allows the generalization of the use of electronic payment devices to all Algerian water agencies and their branches distributed throughout the national territory.
In a speech he delivered on the occasion, Fayed considered that this partnership between the two parties constitutes a new step in the path of “promoting digitization and generalizing it to all citizens’ daily dealings, and this is within the framework of the country’s supreme authorities seeking to modernize the financial and banking system in particular and improve indicators of financial inclusion in general.”
In this context, the minister reaffirmed the public authorities’ commitment to strengthening the infrastructure for the digitization and modernization of banking services in order to “achieve the transition towards a more developed and flexible digital society,” highlighting the “significant improvement” of electronic payment indicators in Algeria in the recent period.
In this regard, he confirmed that the number of online payment transactions was estimated during the first quarter of this year at about 2.7 million transactions for all banks, with a total amount of about 5.7 billion DZD, distributed over several activities and in various sectors.
The number of bank accounts also increased to more than 20 million home accounts at the bank level in 2022 and more than 14 million electronic payment cards, with a record increase in payment operations via electronic payment devices from 65 thousand payment operations in 2016 to more than 2 million operations in 2022, he adds. Minister.

Recording 9 million online payment transactions in 2022

Online payments also increased from 7,300 in 2016 to 9 million in 2022, with more than 340 online merchants involved in the electronic payment system, according to Fayed.
For his part, the Minister of Irrigation affirmed his sector’s keenness on sustaining the public service for the distribution of drinking water, especially through modernization and development of its management in line with the development taking place socially and economically, considering that the signed agreement falls within the implementation of the government’s action plan, which provides for the digitization of all sectors, especially those related to the provision of water. Citizen public services.
He added that the agreement will contribute to facilitating the payment of water consumption dues, “which encourages greater collection of dues in a way that benefits the Algerian Water and its financial stability, and also the citizen who suffers from this aspect, whether related to the distance of commercial agencies or obstacles to classic payment.”
Darbal said that digitization “is no longer a strategic step, but has become a mandatory step” for optimal control and modernization of the public water service. achieve this goal.”
As for the President of the Association of Banks and Financial Institutions, he highlighted that all banks in Algeria are “determined” to implement the path of developing and modernizing the sector, in line with the aspirations of the public authorities with the aim of serving individuals and institutions, noting that the ultimate goal remains the advancement of the field of money (monétique) and electronic payment and the digitization of the sector.
In this context, Latrash stated that banks will conclude agreements with important institutions in order to spread electronic payment operations to achieve financial inclusion.
Banks also seek, within the framework of consolidating financial culture, to launch partnerships with several ministerial departments, such as higher education, national education, culture, and vocational training and education, in order to enhance concepts related to financial culture, adds the president of the association.