The first in Azerbaijan: UNEC students have received “Smart Student Cards”
The presentation of “Smart Student Card “ was held for the first time at UNEC.
“Smart Student Card project” initiated by the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Central Bank and UNEC, with the support of “Kapital Bank” and “Mastercard” was implemented in accordance with the decree of the President of Azerbaijan to ensure the implementation of the measures envisaged in the “State Program on Expansion of Digital Payments in the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2018-2020”.
The event was attended by Deputy Minister of Education Firudin Gurbanov, First Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank Alim Guliyev, UNEC Rector, professor Adalat Muradov, “Mastercard” ′ s manager for Azerbaijan Erdem Chakar, bank executives, university rectors, Ministry of Education officials, academic and student staff of the university and media representatives.
Rector Adalat Muradov said that two years ago, UNEC had started preparations for “Smart Student Card” applied by the world’s leading universities. The rector said that the project was a success and that he was proud of UNEC students having smart student cards applied for the first time in the country. Professor Adalat Muradov spoke about the advantages of the Electronic University Model, which had been successfully used at UNEC for the last 5 years, and noted that “Smart Student Card” had been implemented within that model.
First Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank Alim Guliyev noted that the project approved by the Decree of the President of Azerbaijan dated September 26, 2018, implemented within “State Program on Expansion of Digital Payments in the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2018-2020” would promote the development of a new generation of modern payment culture, the development of digital payment ecosystem in the country. He emphasized that the involvement of higher education students in this project opened up new opportunities for close cooperation between the education system and the banking system as a whole. The introduction of “Smart Student Card” at UNEC for the first time among universities is not accidental, the Central Bank official said, adding that the university had been ahead of its innovative projects for the past 5 years.
Highly appreciating the application of “Smart Student Card” experience of leading universities of the world at Azerbaijani universities, the Deputy Minister of Education Firudin Gurbanov spoke about the importance of the card. The deputy minister noted that in this regard, work was being carried out to approve a new single standard of student cards available at universities, the development of student cards with advanced payment functionality based on it, and to provide them to students studying in the country.
Speaking at the event, “Mastercard”′s manager for Azerbaijan, Erdem Chakar, said he was honored to participate in such a project in Azerbaijan for the first time and spoke about the benefits of smart student cards.
Then the representative of Kapital Bank made a presentation about smart student card. It was informed that the students would receive their scholarships through the card and make any payment with that card both in the country and abroad. Parents living in the regions would be able to easily send money to their children. Students would also be able to use the smart card to access the university, UNEC 24/7 library and reading rooms. It was noted that in the future, the smart student card would be further expanded, and would be used in public transport, special student discounts and other services.
In the end, 20 UNEC first course presidential scholars were given smart student cards.