Giving a major thrust for micro and small businesses to play an important role in diversifying the Sultanate’s economy and creating job opportunities for Omani youth, Bank Muscat najahi products and services have created a benchmark.
Facilitating financial inclusion, the najahi products and services are today making a vital difference in the good performance of micro and small businesses in Oman. Creating a positive impact on the community and the nation, najahi is helping them to overcome hurdles and chart successful ventures with proper planning, financial discipline and prudent management.
Early on, Bank Muscat, in line with its ‘Let’s Do More’ vision and commitment to partnership in promoting sustainable development, was quick to identify the opportunities and challenges faced by this vital segment to develop a suite of products and services aimed at helping them perform well.
Securing credit without collaterals and accessing innovative banking services have been hurdles faced by micro and small businesses. The specially designed najahi products mainly include credit facilities without collaterals to develop and grow micro and small businesses. With najahi, Bank Muscat fulfills the primary need of finance for the micro and small business segment.
The najahi suite of products include the value added najahi Current Account, najahi Flexi Loan to support working capital, business expansion and other business needs; najahi Business Credit Card; najahi Contractors Loan to help complete contracted jobs; and najahi Contractors Bill Discounting to get immediate funds after completing contracted jobs.
The value added najahi Current Account offers differentiated services, including Business Debit Card, branded cheque book, priority queuing at branches, free access to Maktabi Business Centres and online banking services.
The najahi Business Debit Card offers a daily withdrawal limit of RO 1000. The higher withdrawal limit helps customers to meet day-to-day cash requirements. najahi customers can also avail multiple debit cards on the same account allowing authorised persons to make transactions on behalf of the company.
Priority queuing facility is available for najahi customers at branches as also free access once a month to Maktabi Business Centres in Muscat. najahi customers are required to maintain a minimum account balance of RO 500 to avail the current account facility.
Maintaining cash flow is a challenge faced by small businesses. Addressing this critical need, Bank Muscat launched the first-of-its-kind najahi Flexi Loan facility. This facility gives the customer the power to choose when to avail the loan and for what period. Customers pay interest only when they actually avail the loan and not when the facility is granted.
For very short term financing, the bank has launched najahi point of sale (PoS) receivables financing. The specially designed short-term finance facilitates the working capital requirements of small businesses and helps maintain the cash flow.
The key features of najahi PoS receivables financing include short tenor (ranging from one to six months) with daily installment repayments. A small amount is automatically deducted daily from customers’ bank account to repay loan. The evergreen facility allows najahi customers to keep repaying and replenishing the loan, thereby ensuring assured cash flow
As with other najahi credit facilities, customers are not required to provide any collateral guarantee for PoS receivables financing. The convenience and speed of najahi PoS receivables finance help customers to meet their urgent requirement of funds. In a quick and hassle free process, najahi customers with 1-year PoS track record are eligible to avail the collateral-free finance.
The first-of-its-kind najahi suite of products and services launched by Bank Muscat as part of its commitment to encourage entrepreneurial initiatives, has become a big hit with micro and small businesses, encouraging Omani youth to embark on entrepreneurial pursuits and thereby make vital contributions to the economy.
Bank Muscat has launched a series of initiatives to strengthen the SME sector in Oman. Serving as building blocks for entrepreneurs, these initiatives assume importance in the backdrop of the priority accorded by the government to develop the SME sector in Oman.