Muscat: The New Age Banking Summit (NABS) 2024 kicked off today in Oman, bringing together industry leaders to discuss the future of banking in the Sultanate. The event highlighted Oman's strong economic performance, with a budget surplus in 2023 driven by higher oil prices and government initiatives. This has led to credit rating upgrades and a stable outlook for the future.
Omani banks reported a stellar performance in 2023, with combined net profits on the Muscat Stock Exchange growing by 18.6%. This growth is attributed to a promising economic climate, rising foreign trade, and increased government spending. Islamic banking also saw significant gains, with double-digit growth in both credit and deposits.
The Central Bank of Oman (CBO) plays a key role in shaping the future of banking in Oman. The bank has launched a FinTech Regulatory Sandbox and issued guidelines for a card tokenization service to enhance online security.
The CBO is also prioritizing investments in data management and cybersecurity to ensure a robust financial infrastructure.
The summit emphasized the importance of customer-centric banking in today's digital age. Customers now expect seamless digital experiences, personalized services, and robust security measures.
Banks need to leverage technologies like AI, blockchain, and cloud computing to meet these evolving demands. Open banking and data analytics are also crucial for creating hyper-personalized experiences and enhancing customer satisfaction.
The 9th edition of NABS serves as a platform for collaboration between the financial industry, technology providers, and FinTechs. The event features keynote addresses, panel discussions, and presentations from leading companies like Huawei, Nvidia, IBM, and Antom.
The Oman Banking & Finance Awards will also be presented based on a survey conducted by OER, United Securities, and Abu Timam Grant Thornton.
Omani Banks: Stellar performance in FY 2023
Omani Banks showed a promising performance in FY 2023. The combined net profits of Omani banks listed on the Muscat Stock Exchange witnessed a robust growth of 18.6 percent, reaching RO453.5mn in 2023 compared to the previous year's RO382.3mn.
This was driven by several enabling factors such as promising economic growth, a rise in foreign trade, robust investment flow, an increase in government revenues, and a commensurate rise in government spending, which contributed to the recovery of several sectors.
Oman’s banking sector recorded a modest credit growth of 4.3 percent last year but deposits sharply jumped by more than 12 percent year-on-year in 2023 according to the latest data from the Central Bank of Oman.
Oman’s Islamic banking sector continued to witness robust growth in 2023, recording double-digit growth in both credit and deposits. Total assets of Islamic banks and windows increased by 14.7 percent on a year-on-year basis to reach RO7.3bn at the end of December 2023 as compared to RO6.4bn at the end of December 2022.
Islamic assets now constitute about 17.5 percent of the total banking system assets in Oman as of the end of December 2023.
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