Record 3,300 pay road-tax online
JCC Payment Systems, the credit card processing consortium owned by the banks, has given Cyprus e-commerce a timely boost by setting up the mechanism for people to pay utility bills and selective government dues, including the road-tax which has proved to be extremly popular with the public.
JCC General Manager Takis Fekkos told the Financial Mirror that for years JCC had been trying to develop e-commerce on the island and encourage the public to use on-line services, but without success, until it introduced utility government bill settlements.
“The number of online settlements took off initially with the payment of municipal bills, but the surge in online payments really took off with the payment of the road tax by motorists,” said Fekkos.
According to JCC data, more than 3,300 persons had settled their road taxes through the JCC Smart payment system in the first week of the system going live.
In sharp contrast to the settlement of municipal bills, which only relays the information to the Municipalities, the road-tax settlement is a two-way communication in the sense that after the submission of the request for payment, the Inland Transport system verifies the exact amount owed, including back charges and overdue balances and then allows the settlement to proceed.
“The software for such an advanced payment system has been developed mostly in-house by JCC technicians.”
Nicosia and Limassol absent
Among the municipalities now accepting online settlement of bills are Strovolos, Aglantzia, Aradippou, Dherynia, Lakatamia, Larnaca and Latsia, but Nicosia, Limassol and Paphos have not yet joined.
Fekkos said that the JCC software is so simple to install and use that he is surprised that relatively large municipalities have not yet joined the online settlement of bills.
“Not only do they offer a convenient way for the public to pay their bills, but it also cuts down on congestion at the counters.”
Government services
Following the success with the payment of the road taxes, which is closely being monitored by the government, the next objective is to convince the government to allow the payment of speeding and other traffic fines to be paid through JCC.
“We are working on this and I’m confident that the government will allow payment of traffic fines to go online.”
Police Chief Charalambos Koulentis is reported to be supporting the move to shift payments online and wants to wrap up the technical details paving the way for such settlemens through jccsmart.com as soon as possible.
Fekkos said the settlement of tax payments through credit cards is also gaining momentum, but he revealed that there is a deadlock in the monthly payment of social insurance dues, which because of the commission fees, will most probably be settled through direct bank debit.
Internet Payment System
“We set up one of the best and safest Internet Payment Gateway systems at a cost of CYP 600,000, which has attracted many foreign companies,” said Fekkos.
He explained that the reason why many companies based outside Cyprus are attracted to the JCC system is because it is one of the cheapest in Europe.
JCC appears to be offering an attractive pricing of on average 2.6% for Internet based settlement of payments. In Cyprus, the credit card consortium, which recently came under criticism for high charges, the maximum card settlement commission is 2.6%, while in the case of petrol stations, which enjoy the lowest commissions, the rate is 1.25%.
Shopping online
Fekkos is confident that with more and more people deciding to go online to pay their bills, they will gain the confidence to transact online and help in the development of e-commerce, an area that Cyprus currently lags far behind compared to other countries.
JCC has also set up the system for people now buying their CyBC bingo cards online.
The jccsmart.com portal also hosts JCCeshops, with as many as 35 retail establishments already offering their products and services online through easy to construct web sites at very low and affordable monthly rental fees depending on the number of products loaded on the respective web sites.
“At JCC, we are determined to help in the development of e-commerce in Cyprus and we believe that we are on the right track, if only the government, municipalities and major corporations realise the advantages of e-commerce and help our efforts,” concluded Fekkos.
