Digital-payment services are multiplying in the Middle East

单击此处编辑母版标题样式,单击此处编辑母版文本样式,第二级,第三级,第四级,第五级,*,Digital-payment services are multiplying in the Middle East,数字支付在中东长势正猛,Sep 1st 2012|BEIRUT|from the print edition,A few years ago Wahid,Essales,friends in Saudi Arabia started to use online shopping sites.But when it came to buying,they would ask him for his credit card.“Id pay for the goods and they gave me back the cash,plus a small commission,”he explains.By 2007,Mr,Essale,had turned the,favour,into a business:,Cashna,an electronic wallet which allows users to store funds online and spend them on e-commerce sites.,几年前，瓦希德,伊萨尔的朋友们就开始上购物网站了，不过一旦要买，他们就得向瓦希德要信用卡。,“,我去付货款，他们拿现金还我，外加一小点佣金。,”,伊萨尔解释道。到了,2007,年，伊萨尔已经把这个给朋友帮的忙变成了一桩事业，即,Cashna,。,Cashna,是一种电子钱包，它能让用户在线上存款，并在电子商务网站上使用这些存款。,Cashna,is only one of a slew of new payment services in the Middle East.,CashU,the regions most popular e-wallet,handles payments for the likes of Skype and Al,Jazeera,Sports.,OneCard,another e-wallet,can be topped up in many ways,including with scratch cards sold by street vendors.Gate2Play has gathered regional payment services and Western onesPayPal,MasterCard and Visaunder one virtual roof;merchants only have to connect to Gate2Play to access them all.,Cashna,不过是中东新兴支付服务大潮中的一员。当地最流行的电子钱包,CashU,能够为,Skype,和半岛电视台体育频道之类产品付费。另一种电子钱包,OneCard,则可以通过多种途径充值，用从路边小贩卖的刮刮卡交费便是其中一种。,Gate2Play,则将当地支付服务和西方同类产品,-,如,Paypal,，,MasterCard,和,Visa-,整合到了同一虚拟平台之上，商家只要登录,Gate2play,便可以享受所有这些服务。,The bloom of such services is the result of a mismatch of demand and supply.Thanks to the spread of internet connections and,smartphones,in the Middle East and north Africa,consumers are increasingly eager to shop and play online.Yet most of the regions 370m people use only cash.And even when they have a credit card,they seldom trust merchants with their payment details,says,Ramez,Shehadi,of Booz&Company,a consultancy.As a result,electronic payments are only a small share of all payments(see chart).,这类服务的繁盛是由供需不协调引起的。因特网与智能手机在中东和北非的扩展使得消费者越来越希望在网上购物消遣，而当地,3.7,亿人之中的大多数都还只能使用现金。而且就算他们有信用卡，他们也很少会把自己的支付明细交托给商家，博斯咨询公司的,Ramez,Shehadi,这样说道。因此，电子支付只占支付总数的一小部分。,Governments around the Gulf first tried to change this by launching systems that link banks and billers.Saudi Arabias SADAD,for instance,allows the kingdoms citizens to make payments to local companies.But such services have not been keen to include online gaming services and shopping sites,as well as foreign companies.And they have limited use in countries such as Egypt where,according to some estimates,as little as 5%of the population have a bank account.,海湾国家政府起初试图通过投放能连接银行和收款方的系统来改变这一局面。例如沙特阿拉伯的,SADAD,就使其公民得以向当地公司付款。但这类服务并不乐于把在线游戏服务商，网上购物站点，以及海外公司包括在内。而且这些服务在埃及等国家使用面有限。一些估计显示，在埃及仅有,5%,的人口拥有银行账户。,In theory,that leaves plenty of room for private payment services to bridge the gap.In practice,they have lots of obstacles to surmount.Concerns about money laundering and financing of terrorist networks mean new payment providers not only have to deal with the usual red tape but also cope with layers of additional regulation.And banks,many of them in government hands,are often,loth,to link up with new companies.,理论上讲，这一情况为私营支付服务商弥补这一空缺留下了充足空间。而实际上，这些服务商还有许多障碍需要克服。出于对洗钱和资助恐怖组织的担忧，新的支付服务商不仅要应付常规性的繁文缛节，还得应对多层额外规定。而大多数掌握在政府手中的银行，也往往不愿与新公司建立联系。,Lack of regulation is the problem for mobile payments,which would be particularly suitable for the regions unbanked masses with mobile phones.Without a legal framework,telecoms operators find it hard to sign deals with payment services.“This is hugely frustrating given the potential,says Rashid al-,Ballaa,of N2V,a firm that finances digital companies across the Arab world,including,OneCard,.,移动支付对于当地无银行账户的大众来说是极为合适的，但它又受到管制缺失的困扰。没有法律框架，电信运营商很难与支付服务商签订交易。,“,考虑到其中的潜力，这真是相当郁闷的一件事，,”,N2V,公司的,Rashid al-,Ballaa,这样说道，,N2V,公司为阿拉伯世界的多家数码公司注资，,OneCard,就是其中之一。,And then there is pricing.Some payment providers charge hefty fees,arguing that this is the only way to make the economics work given few subscribers and low-value transactions.,OneCard,for instance,takes 7-10%from retailers and also charges customers for topping up with pre-paid cards.The firms management is coy about its revenues,but it is the leading payment service for the regions online-gaming industry,worth an estimated$100m.,接下来便是定价。一些支付服务商要价极高，理由是在用户少，交易额低的情况下，这是唯一合算的方法。就,OneCard,的例子来说，它向销售商收取,7-10%,的份额，同时也对使用预付卡充值的用户收费。该公司的管理层不愿透露其收入，但作为当地在线游戏行业的领先支付服务商，它被估值,1,亿美金。,Easier,cheaper online-payment services will boost e-commerce in the Middle East.But other things also have to improve,argues,Muhannad,Ebwini,Gate2Plays boss.Cross-border logistics are often a nightmare,taxes are high and,perhaps most important,the quality of local,e-tailers,leaves much to be desired,he says.The regions e-commerce summer is bound to come,but it may take some time.,更便捷，更低价的在线支付服务确实将能促进中东地区的电子商务发展，但其它方面也有待改进，,Gate2Play,的当家人,Muhannad,Ebwini,这样认为。跨国境物流往往如同噩梦，税负高，还有可能是最重要的一点，当地电子商贩的质量还有很大的上升空间，他这样说道。中东地区电子商务的盛夏时节必会来到，不过可能得花上点时间。,