Muscat: As a firm believer in technological innovation in the banking sector, Bank Nizwa, the leading and most trusted Islamic bank in the Sultanate of Oman, extended its support to COMEX 2022, Oman’s official technology, communications, innovation and digital transformation show, as the main Islamic Banking sponsor.  The 31st Annual Hybrid Event, at the Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre (OCEC), as well as through Virtual Support Platforms. The event included exhibitions, conferences, awards, workshops, seminars, certified training programmes, gaming, B2B meetings and other attractions. 

With Bank Nizwa being at the forefront of Banking and Fintech and being deemed as the ‘Most Innovative Islamic Bank’, it has always directed its focus on digitalisation and the introduction of dynamic Shari’a-compliant products and services. 

Exhibiting at the COMEX 2022, the bank showcased its digital banking offerings to visitors, which included a Digital Onboarding section that enabled visitors to open an account with Bank Nizwa digitally via the use of a QR code. Digital onboarding has allowed the bank to reach bring Islamic Banking closer to a larger audience and simplify the account opening process for prospective customers.  Also displayed was a prototype of an Interactive ATM and a Self-Service Card Issuance/Printing Machine.. Visitors could use the machines in real-time to understand their mechanism and received token cards that allowed them to enter the raffle draw to win exciting prizes, exclusive for COMEX visitors. Bank Nizwa has also dedicated an area to showcase its offering to corporate clients allowing them to network and get acquainted with the bank’s unique customer oriented approach.  

Elaborating on the Bank’s commitment to driving the digital future of the banking sector, Khaled Al Kayed CEO of Bank Nizwa said: “Fintech is providing technologies to the banking sector that will make it more efficient than ever before. Banking institutions are adopting digital onboarding that eliminates the need to fill out forms, make over-the-counter payments, and submit documents. To improve customer experience, smartphone applications to provide customers with real-time access to their bank accounts and machine learning to protect against fraud.” 

“FinTech aims to offer cost-effective solutions for businesses that seek to lower overall expenses, improve customer experience and automate business processes. Our society relies heavily on the financial services business, therefore, the adoption of FinTech, including Islamic FinTech, can aid in stimulating economic growth. Our Sponsorship of COMEX 2022 reiterates our belief that FinTech provides great potential for the banking industry in Oman, especially Islamic finance, to become more competitive in the market. At Bank Nizwa, we continuously endeavour to remain at the forefront in supporting the efforts of our esteemed government in accelerating digital transformation and innovation, in alliance with the national agenda of Oman 2040 Vision,” he added.

Amna Al Balushi, the Chief Manager of IT Governance and Security represented Bank Nizwa at the (AI in Information Security). Furthermore, Mustafa Al Naabi, Assistant Manager, Shariaa Training, Shariah, and Sadiq Al Lawati, head Channels & Digitilization, delivered a presentation on the Islamic Finance Knowledge Series and Sustainability and digitalisation respectively. 

As data and technology continue integrating, Bank Nizwa persistently curates advanced financial services that bring value to customers, whether retail or corporate. The global Islamic FinTech industry is anticipated to expand rapidly in the next years with the growing popularity of Islamic finance in the region and the increase demand for innovative Sharia-compliant products and services, making it critical to streamlining FinTech to boost efficiency. Fintech plays a significant role in the global economy, and business landscape, and is the fabric of modern society as a whole, making it a widespread and rapidly growing sector. 

Bank Nizwa continues to invest in innovation and create a unique digital experience for its customers, simultaneously providing an equitable platform to the Bank for future business growth. Innovation has well embalmed to bank’s future strategies, giving clear leverage to its business partners to look forward to the enhancement of customer-facing applications and improvise corresponding back-end processes and systems. Capitalising on available technology, Bank Nizwa has improvised and onboarded multiple operational processes to the digital platform, which created a constant and seamless flow between business and operations. This gives a clear monitoring track of flow management and this is likely to enhance customer banking experience continuously.