H E Tahir Salim al Amri, executive president of the Central Bank of Oman, has emphasized on the CBO’s role in facilitating the growth of financial technologies (Fintech), encourage electronic payments, risk management controls and customer protection in the banking sector. 

The CBO’s executive president was the chief guest at the New Age Banking Summit Oman 2020, which was held on Tuesday at Sheraton Oman hotel.

Speaking about the new initiatives in payments during his keynote address at the event, H E Amri said, “The wholesale payment system, namely, the Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS), is in an advanced stage of upgrade and will be up and running 24/7 by the first half of 2021. This will make Oman the first country in the Arab Gulf region to operate the RTGS 24/7. It will help businesses to make high-value payments round the clock, which will greatly help the payment system participants manage their funds efficiently.” 

The fifth edition of New Age Banking Summit Oman, supported by Oman Banks Association, drew good response from the banking industry and Fintech sectors. The physical event was attended by a select number of industry leaders and over 350 strong audience watched and participated in the event on Zoom.

In a presentation, Ali Hassan Moosa, CEO of Oman Banks Association, reflected on the need for the banks to gear up for the changes at an accelerated pace with the growing popularity of open banking, instant P2P payments, cashless multi-currency exchanges, behaviour based personalised offers, super e-wallet that works across borders and Blockchain-based contracts, etc. 

The summit also hosted a panel discussion titled ‘The Age of Collaboration to Drive Innovation and Transformation’. The panel comprising the well-known industry leaders from banking, finance, investment, insurance and technology sectors debated on various aspects related to the great reset for the financial services sector due to COVID-19 related challenges and how banks are adapting to the changing technology landscape. 

The panelists included Khalid al Kayed CEO of Bank Nizwa; Sanjay Kawatra, group president – regional business and COO of Ominvest Group; Eng Maqbool al Wahaibi, CEO of Oman Data Park; Eddy Abboud, CEO of GBM Oman; and Sunil Kohli, CEO of Dhofar Insurance. The panel discussion was moderated by Ali Hassan Moosa.

The summit was a unique platform for the banking and finance professionals to discuss the new developments in global banking and debate on the focus areas for the Omani banks. The event hosted a line-up of speakers from Omani and global/regional organisations including the CBO, Mastercard, Oman Arab Bank, National Bank of Oman, Oman Data Park, Bahwan CyberTek and PayMate. 

Oman Banking & Finance Awards 2020 was also co-located with the New Age Banking Summit. 

The best performing banking, leasing, insurance and Fintech companies were felicitated in the awards.