Batelco, Benefit to collaborate on banking services

Batelco will provide communications services for Benefit's line of electronic banking services, according to a new agreement announced Wednesday.

Under the agreement, Batelco will take responsibility for the communications infrastructure supporting several Benefit projects, such as the Bahrain cheque truncation system, the National ATM and POS switch, and the Electronic Funds Transfer System.

"The strategic collaboration is set to add value for both organizations and we look forward to working closely with Benefit for the good of our customers and also to strengthening our relationship with Benefit going forward," Batelco CEO Muna Al Hashemi said.

Company officials are particularly eager to use the collaboration to further develop Benefit's Electronic Fund Transfer Service (EFTS), a project assigned by the Central Bank of Bahrain. The EFTS was launched in November to provide mechanisms for streamlining mobile banking, online banking, bill payments and other types of electronic money transfers.

"The launch of the EFTS service a few months ago was a quantum leap for financial services in Bahrain," Benefit CEO Abdulwahed Janahi said. "EFTS will reduce the duration time of the process of electronic transfers and payment types to an immediate transaction that is flexible and secure, taking no more than 30 seconds, or with the transaction deferred depending on the customer's needs."

Batelco customers will also benefit from the partnership by gaining access to the electronic bill pay features available through EFTS.