OAB Announces 85 Winners for Hasaad October Draw

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Muscat, November 29, 2018: Oman Arab Bank (OAB) recently conducted its Hasaad draw for the month of October, at its Head Office in Ghubra. The draw saw 83 winners from across the Bank’s branch network receiving OMR 500 each, together with one winner of OMR 20,000 as part of the Monthly Elite Draw and another winner of OMR 20,000 as part of the Regional draw for the Bank’s branches in the Shariqya region.

Commenting on the draw for October, Rashad Al Sheikh, Deputy General Manager of Retail Banking at OAB said, “With the draw for the month of October behind us, we are now in the homestretch of the Hasaad Savings Scheme for the year. There are however 169 prizes yet to be won in the final two months of the draw, which will come to a close with the year-end draw set to take place in the first half of January 2019.”

Hasaad Savings Scheme in its current edition offers the Bank’s clients across all regions and branches a chance to win one of several valuable prizes on a monthly basis. These prizes come as part of the Bank’s monthly draws, alternating between OMR 1,000 and OMR 500 per winner every month, across all branches. Regional Prize Draws, which will see one winner of OMR 20,000, conducted once every two months over the course of the year. The Hasaad Savings Scheme will also include 12 dedicated prize draws for Elite account holders with one winner of OMR 50,000 every quarter and one winner of OMR 20,000 for every month in between.

“On behalf of OAB I would like to congratulate each of the winners of the October Hasaad Savings Scheme draw; as well as encourage our other customers to continue saving so as to maximise their chances of winning in the final two months of the Hasaad Savings Scheme for this year,” added Rashad.

Oman Arab Bank is one of the first banks to be established in Oman with a rich and proud history. Today, the bank operates a nationwide network of 65 branches and representative offices and 150 ATMs spread across the Sultanate. OAB also provides a complete range of financial products and services for Retail and corporate banking clients.

OAB Commences Instant Issuance of NFC-Equipped Cards

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Muscat, November 12, 2018: Oman Arab Bank (OAB), in its constant endeavour to leverage technology to improve customer service, recently launched a new Instant Issuance service for debit cards in ten of its branches across the Sultanate. The new Instant Issuance service is capable of personalising and issuing EMV/NFC chip-equipped cards and is the first of its kind in Oman. OAB will launch the service in the remainder of its branches before the end of the year.

Prior to the launch of this new service, OAB debit Cards were printed and personalised at the Head Office and then mailed to branches; a production cycle that used to take between two to five days. However, with the newly implemented Instant Issuance system, several OAB branches across the country are now fully capable of personalising and issuing debit cards, complete with EMV/NFC chip data preparation. This makes OAB the first bank capable of instant issuance of cards with NFC technology at its branches in the Sultanate of Oman.

Commenting on the new instant issuance service, Rashad Al Shaikh, the Deputy Head of Retail Group said, “Each and every technological advancement we pursue at the Bank is aimed at improving efficiency and providing our customers with the best possible customer service or other value-added benefits. This new service we offer is no different. With it, we are able to provide our customers with completely personalised, fully functional, NFC-equipped debit card at the very moment the new account is opened. Furthermore, with the instant issuance solution, we can ensure our customers absolute security and speed, providing them with a positive customer experience that exceeds their every expectation.”

The service has so far been launched at ten branches across the country. The service will be launched at the remainder of the branches before the end of the year.

Oman Arab Bank is one of the first banks to be established in Oman, with a rich and proud history. Today, the bank operates a nationwide network of 65 branches and representative offices and 148 ATMs spread across the Sultanate. OAB provides the complete range of financial products and services for personal banking, corporate and investment clients.

OAB Successfully Closes AT1 Perpetual Subordinated Bond Valued at Over OMR 42 million

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Muscat, 08 November 2018: Oman Arab Bank announced that it has successfully closed unsecured perpetual subordinated bonds value of OMR 42,553,000 as Additional Tier 1 Capital with an issue price of RO 1.000 per bond, comprising the nominal value, and an interest rate of 7.5% per annum.

The Bank issued the bonds at a value of OMR 35 million with a green shoe option of OMR 15 million and was managed by Ubhar Capital (U-Capital), who acted as the financial advisor, issue manager, and lead arranger. These bonds attracted a significant number of investors, which in turn prompted the bank to increase the placement size by about 22% from its initial size; a clear reflection of the level of trust and confidence investors placed in the Bank.

Commenting on the success of the issue, Rashad al Musafir, the CEO of the Bank said, “The outcome of the bonds issue was as expected. The positive financial results, asset quality, and risk profile have contributed to the Bank’s strength. In addition, the close relationship of the Bank with a wide range of investors has also had a positive impact. On behalf of the Bank, I would like to extend my sincere thanks and appreciation to all the investors who have placed their trust in us. They are the cornerstone of our journey towards greater success.”

The interest payment for the Bonds will be payable semi-annual in arrears to the holders of these bonds at the date of interest payment. The issue was approved by the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) and Capital Market Authority (CMA). It is listed in the bonds segment of Muscat Securities Market (MSM).

Total Assets of Oman Arab Bank as of 30 September 2018 was OMR 2.28 billion and the total equity was OMR 307 million before the bond issuance. The bond issuance has resulted in an increase in equity to OMR 349.6 million and the total Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) improved from 14.09% to 16.03%.

Oman Arab Bank is proud to have achieved the highest Omanisation percentage within the banking sector, nearing 96%. It is also one of the first banks to be established in Oman with a rich and proud history. Today, the bank operates a nationwide network of 65 branches and representative offices and 150 ATMs spread across the Sultanate. OAB also provides a complete range of financial products and services for Retail and corporate banking clients.

OAB Launches First Innovation Lab in the Financial Services Industry

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Muscat, November 05, 2018: Oman Arab Bank (OAB), in a bid to accelerate its innovation journey and drive innovative thinking within the community, has announced the launch of the first ‘Innovation Lab’ in the Sultanate’s financial services industry. The Lab, which will occupy one floor at the OAB headquarters, will drive the development and implementation of innovative solutions that would shape the financial services industry. The ideas will be short-listed at ‘The Innovation Hub’ event, a 24-hour innovation platform that will enable participants to develop proof of concepts and act as an accelerator of winning innovations into the lab. The OAB Innovation Lab, together with The Innovation Hub, was launched at a Press Conference held at the Bank’s Headquarters in Al Ghubrah on the 5th of November 2018, in the presence of the Bank’s CEO, Rashad Al Musafir, together with other members of the Banks Executive Management and Staff.

Aimed at students, professionals and employees, this initiative has been developed to empower local talent and entrepreneurs to become viable contributors to the evolution of our economy through the power of innovation and the spirit of competition.

Commenting on the launch of the new Innovation Lab, Rashad Al Musafir said, “We created this platform to support the development of a knowledge-based economy, by empowering professionals, students, and our employees, to become viable contributors in its evolution. At OAB, we recognize the important role that innovation plays in enriching human experiences, and we have set a strong internal and external innovation agenda to deliver value across our customers’ ecosystems.”

The themes of the Innovation Hub are: Youth banking, superior customer experience, digital economy and payments, and an open category for other innovation ideas. The innovation hub is scheduled for January 25, 2019.

Anyone interested in participating will be required to register their team for The Innovation Hub on www.oman-arabbank.com/theinnovationhub with their proposed idea and team members’ names. The cut-off date for registrations will be December 15, 2018.

The initiative will also encompass several activities prior to the competition date including roadshows for students later this month followed by training workshops in December for participating student and staff teams by the Bank’s partners at the Head Office. These workshops will cover a brief introduction to the bank’s products and services, ideation, and developing proof of concepts.

Commenting on the competition, Leen Al Atassi, the Head of Innovation at OAB said, “This initiative has been established as a long-term investment for the Bank and reinforces our commitment to nurturing local talent and positioning OAB as a forward thinker and innovator that is connected with the community. The Innovation Hub would act as an accelerator, with winning innovations being incorporated into the Innovation Lab. Furthermore, this competition is only the beginning and we have several plans in place for this initiative going forward.”

The Innovation Hub by OAB will begin on January 25, 2019 and will take place over a 24-hour period with the winners being announced on the evening of the following day.

The winning teams from each category will be presented with the opportunity to join the Bank’s ‘Innovation Lab’ within the Bank, to develop their ideas further so that they may be implemented. The winning student team will receive a cash prize and also be presented with an opportunity to work on other innovations as part of a paid internship, together with the potential opportunities for recruitment.

The winning professional team, on the other hand, will be entered into a signed partnership agreement with OAB to develop and implement their idea within the Bank. While members of the winning OAB staff team will also be presented with special incentives and opportunities for career advancement within the Bank.

A Mentoring Panel has also been established, comprising senior members of the Bank’s staff and management, in order to help and support the teams on the day of the contest and later in the Lab.

“We encourage any student or professional interested in the contest to put a team together and challenge yourselves to think up innovative solutions; ones that could enhance customer experiences, shape our digital economy and payments solutions and maybe even revolutionise a key aspect of banking in Oman,” Al Atassi concluded.

Oman Arab Bank is one of the first banks to be established in Oman, with a rich and proud history. Today, the bank operates a nationwide network of 65 branches and representative offices and 148 ATMs spread across the Sultanate. OAB provides a complete range of financial products and services for personal banking, corporate and investment clients.