DCT Abu Dhabi enhances smart tourism with PayBy

Close up hand of customer paying with smartphone. Cashier hand holding credit card reader machine and wearing protective disposable gloves at bar counter, while client holding phone for NFC payment. Woman wearing face mask while paying bill with mobile phone during Covid-19 pandemic.

As part of efforts to achieve a cashless, contactless payment system across the hospitality, retail and tourism sectors, the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) has announced the signing of an Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with PayBy, the innovative financial technology platform. In support of the UAE government’s vision to create a secure financial ecosystem for merchants and consumers and its drive towards digital transformation across all sectors, PayBy’s widely accepted, user-friendly and highly secure platform will now be in use across hotels, malls and other tourism establishments. With the current global concerns around hygiene and safety, the use of PayBy’s system will also play a key role in minimising touch points across the emirate.

Saeed Al Dhaheri, Acting Tourism Products Development Director, DCT Abu Dhabi, said: “Our MOU with PayBy is an important step towards a seamless and innovative financial ecosystem throughout Abu Dhabi in line with the national digital transformation which will clearly benefit consumers, visitors and many other stakeholders. At DCT Abu Dhabi, we are committed to the use of state-of-the-art technology to improve the experience for tourists and residents, so the implementation of PayBy’s innovative platform is another key measure in achieving this objective.”

Financial transactions on PayBy are protected by advanced technologies, including an Artificial Intelligence-based fraud management system to detect unauthorised activities, which complies with Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI-DSS), the international gold standard in this sector. By offering security to guests’ payments at participating establishments and entities across the emirate, PayBy will support Abu Dhabi’s efforts to be a globally renowned, ‘smart’ tourism destination equipped with leading digital infrastructure.

PayBy was launched to offer greater safety, convenience and efficiency to consumers and businesses, and to support the UAE in its digital transformation. The necessity of social distancing has accelerated the growth of contactless payment solutions, such as PayBy, and has led to increased use of similar systems. The PayBy app can be downloaded from Google Play, App Store and Huawei AppGallery, or by visiting https://www.payby.com/download