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Diwan and Bank Muscat enhance mutual relations with digital banking solutions

28 Nov 2020

The Diwan of Royal Court and Bank Muscat, the leading financial services provider in the sultanate, have further enhanced their strong partnership. The Diwan of Royal Court was the first government entity to be on-boarded to the bank’s Business-to-Business (B2B) solution. Since the beginning of the year, it has greatly proven its effectiveness and utility. 

This comes as part of Bank Muscat’s initiative to onboard ministries and government entities as well as corporates to various digital solutions for a secure and convenient digital banking experience. The electronic services and solutions provided by the bank to its customers have especially proven its efficiency during these times which require both physical distancing and the convenience of electronic platforms and services, according to apress release.

Bank Muscat’s B2B Connect solution seamlessly and securely integrates with the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software used by the Diwan of Royal Court and provides an automated, two-way data transfer service for high volume online payments. A major advantage is that B2B Connect minimises human errors, allows for faster turnaround and reconciliation, thereby enabling operational efficiencies. The solution was customised for the Diwan of Royal Court enabling it to go paperless and easily continue operations during the current phase brought about by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

H E Abdullah Shaban Mohammed al Farsi, Head of Administrative and Financial Affairs at the Diwan of Royal Court, said, “We are happy to strengthen our partnership with Bank Muscat, the leading financial services provider in the sultanate, and take advantage of its cutting-edge corporate digital banking solutions. The Diwan of Royal Court has been keen to lead the way in implementing the government’s digital initiatives and is the first government entity to implement this solution. We are always keen to cooperate and strengthen our partnership with different institutions so as to enhance the level of services and facilities provided to individuals, corporates and institutions. We hope that both institutions will greatly benefit from this partnership and help bring about a qualitative transformation in banking services. Since the beginning of this year, it has proven its effectiveness and ensured the continuity of payment of tender funds to beneficiaries on time during the pandemic. This step comes as a translation of the Oman 2040 vision.”

Sheikh Waleed K al Hashar, chief executive officer of Bank Muscat, said, “We are privileged to onboard the operations of the Diwan of Royal Court to the bank’s cutting edge B2B Connect solution. Digital solutions are playing a major role in powering economic growth today and the bank is helping both government institutions and corporates keep pace with these rapid developments. With its innovative banking solutions, Bank Muscat can address the complete payment requirements of the government and private sector organisations of all sizes.”

With the niche B2B Connect solution, large organisations can carry out payment initiations in their ERP, and the information flows to the Bank for processing. It enables an efficient and robust payment and reconciliation system that optimises employee efficiency. Payment files and beneficiary details will be pulled from the organisation’s system and transferred to the Online Banking Platform for further action by the authorised officials from the organisation. The platform will also enable the pushing back of payment status, beneficiary registration status and daily account statements back to the government institution or corporate for auto-reconciliation. The two-way transfer of data will be secured through encryption and digital signing. The Online Banking Platform will also send email notifications to relevant users in the organisation to track the complete payment workflow and inform them to take action on pending payments or files.

Bank Muscat also offers corporates tailor-made solutions such as Remote Deposit Capture and Direct Debit solution. Remote Deposit Capture is an online cheque clearing solution, facilitating faster clearance and efficiencies in account receivables. The Direct Debit solution allows institutions to directly source funds from their customer accounts based on a mutually agreed mandate. The Transaction Banking team provides expert advice to corporates and institutional partners on structuring an automated and efficient accounts receivables process. Bank Muscat is also in the process of delivering other transaction banking solutions, which will be announced in the future.

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