Muscat, May 20, 2020: Oman Arab Bank (OAB) recently announced the appointment of Sulaiman bin Hamad Al Harthy as the Deputy Chief Executive Officer – Chief Business Officer, as of May 17, 2020.

Commenting on the appointment, Rashad Al Musafir, the CEO of OAB, said, “Sulaiman Al Harthy has extensive experience in the banking industry in general, and Sharia-compliant banking in particular, holding several senior positions over the past three decades. This has provided him with insight and thorough knowledge about market needs, competition and marketing mechanisms.  I am confident that upon taking up his new role and joining the Oman Arab Bank family, he will be a valuable addition to our efforts in enhancing the Bank’s market share and enriching our reach to the broader segments of society.”

Commenting on his appointment to Oman Arab Bank, Sulaiman Al Harthy said, “I believe that this is truly an important step in my career in the banking sector, which comprises of more than three decades now. Joining Oman Arab Bank during the current phase is a challenge that I am fully prepared for. The Bank has a clear strategic vision for the future, with specific goals in place that it will strive to achieve during the upcoming period. I am delighted to be a part of this wonderful team that will work tirelessly to achieve these great ambitions and look forward to the future with optimism. I look forward to working with the team, I look forward to working with the team towards taking the Bank to the forefront of the banking industry.”

Sulaiman Al Harthy has over 32 years of experience, and held several leadership positions at major local banks and financial institutions. Most recently, he was the Group Chief Personal Banking Officer at Bank Muscat and had been appointed as Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Meethaq Islamic Banking. Al Harthy is a graduate of Oman Institute of Bankers, as well as a graduate from the Executive Management Programme at Harvard Business School. He also holds an MBA in Finance from Leicester University, UK.

“We are all extremely delighted to have Sulaiman Al Harthy be a part of OAB, especially as we are on the verge of a major expansion milestone after the completion of the proposed merger with Alizz Islamic Bank, which will see the establishment of a larger and more powerful financial entity in the local banking sector. On behalf of the Board of Directors of Oman Arab Bank and members of the Executive Management, I am pleased to welcome Sulaiman as a new OAB family member and wish him the best of luck and success in his new position.”, Rashad added.

Oman Arab Bank has a rich and proud history as one of the first financial institutions to be established in the Sultanate. Today, the bank operates a nationwide network of 65 branches and representative offices with 152 ATMs spread across Oman. OAB provides a complete range of financial products and services for personal banking, corporate banking and investment clients.

• A modern platform to reinforce leading position as innovator.
• A great added value service to further a comprehensive banking experience.

Muscat, May 11, 2020: In line with its comprehensive digital transformation, Oman Arab Bank has announced the launch of a new innovative platform that allows customers to communicate with the bank at their convenience through WhatsApp. This platform is spearheaded by “SAIF”, an animated character that will provide customers with the best possible solutions to all their inquiries.

Commenting on the launch of the platform, Rashad Al Shaikh, Acting Head of Retail Banking Division at Oman Arab Bank said, “WhatsApp has become one of the most popular communication platforms in the Sultanate of Oman as well as in the Middle East, with a majority of people utilizing it, in comparison to other alternatives. Therefore, the Bank decided to take the initiative and develop an innovative technical solution through a dedicated WhatsApp business account that will connect customers with the Bank 24/7. The  platform will also answer all the customers’ inquires in a simplified way and will provide information about the latest available offers and discounts, as well as providing tips on the best savings techniques.”

This new initiative is in line with OAB’s efforts to reinforce its leading position in the banking sector in the Sultanate of Oman, especially when it comes to digital infrastructure that focuses on innovation and the use of artificial intelligence to develop better customer experience solutions. Moreover, it is also an added value to the already existing products and services. Customers can send a WhatsApp message to “SAIF” on 72599000 to receive a list of services that can be provided, or to learn more through an instant conversation.

“We believe that this platform will be very effective, as it was designed as per the latest technical developments to further our customer’s satisfaction and enhance their comprehensive banking experience. For example, Oman Arab Bank offers several exclusive discounts in various retail stores, with the option of using reward points to shop instead of paying cash. The “SAIF” Platform will keep the customers aware of the latest offers and how they can benefit from them. I am sure that this platform will witness a great demand from the Bank’s customers, especially from the youth, who prefer to deal with advanced digital platforms.” Rashad added.

Oman Arab Bank has a rich and proud history as one of the first financial institutions to be established in the Sultanate. Today, the bank operates a nationwide network of 65 branches and representative offices with 152 ATMs spread across Oman. OAB provides a complete range of financial products and services for personal banking, corporate banking and investment clients.

• This initiative will help students and budding entrepreuners to use their time to enhance their skillsets and accelerate their personal and professional growth.

Muscat, April 27, 2020: Oman Arab Bank (OAB) has announced that it is developing a first-of-its-kind interactive digital learning hub in the Sultanate. The learning platform is developed to upskill the youth and to prepare them for the job market in the future.

The Learning Hub will launch on the 4^th of May 2020, with a comprehensive set of workshops that are focused on accelerating students and entreperuners’ personal and professional growth and delivering the skills, competencies, tools and metrics needed to drive growth and value in their careers and businesses. The learning platform will focus on various topics, including design thinking, innovation, business model canvas, the latest trends in technology, leadership development, self-development, and much more.

Commenting on this unique initiative, Adil Al Rahbi, the Head of Human Resources Division at OAB, shed light on the role that these new initiatives play in bridging the gap between traditional learning methods and the requirements of today’s job market, by providing students with an opportunity to develop their skills and, in turn, strengthen their future employment prospects. “We wanted to offer Oman’s youth access to an interactive online learning community, regardless of the sustained impact of COVID-19; with an opportunity to aquire the skills they need, share knowledge, and unlock their full potential so that they can excel and thrive in the future. The interactive online workshops will see a much more hands-on experience and breaks away from the traditional theoretical curriculum. ” Al Rahbi added.

Leen Al Atassi, Head of Innovation at OAB, added, “We’ve designed The Learning Hub to support and empower students and budding entrepreuners to learn new skills, understand core concepts that can sharpen their ability to apply the latest innovation concepts, and have the confidence to take on new challenges. We have collaborated with some of our key strategic partners to deliver these programmes, including GBM, IDO, and Phaze Ro. The interactive workshops will focus on design thinking principles, enablers of innovation, critical reflection analysis, the business model canvas, turning an idea into a proof of concept, new trends in technology, pitching to potential investors and many other topics that would help people navigate this evolving landscape.”

Oman Arab Bank has a rich and proud history as one of the first financial institutions to be established in the Sultanate. Today, the bank operates a nationwide network of 65 branches and representative offices and 152 ATMs spread across Oman. OAB provides a complete range of financial products and services for personal banking, corporate banking and investment clients.

Muscat, April 21, 2020: In line with its social responsibility objective, especially with the spread of the Coronavirus and its effects on the suspension of study until further notice, Oman Arab Bank (OAB) announced its sponsorship of a e-learning new initiative. This is aimed at providing educational content for 450 students from 17 schools, specialised in providing education for students with special needs.

Commenting on the bank’s sponsorship, Hilal Al Siyabi, Head of Corporate Communication said, “The suspension of schools and institutions was a necessary step to limit the spread of the Coronavirus COVID-19, but this does not mean that our children will stop studying completely. Therefore, we have sponsored this special programme that employs the latest technology to serve a very important segment of society and help students receive education in an interesting and beneficial way, from the comfort of their home. We are confident that this programme will help students prepare well for their end-of-year exams. Furthermore, our support of this initiative is in line with our vision of playing a sustainable role in society as a financial institution, with social activity also being an integral part of our business activities.”

This e-learning initiative was launched in cooperation with Al Roya Newspaper and the Ministry of Education, with exclusive sponsorship from Oman Arab Bank. It will also provide visual lessons on electronic platforms for students with special needs. It was launched on Thursday, April 16, and will continue until the end of the current semester. The curriculum will include several major subjects, including Arabic, Mathematics, Social Studies and Islamic Education, as well as awareness materials on the emerging coronavirus (COVID-19), using the sign language and audio recordings via the Broadcast service.

Oman Arab Bank has a rich and proud history as one of the first financial institutions to be established in the Sultanate. Today, the bank operates a nationwide network of 65 branches and representative offices and 152 ATMs spread across Oman. OAB provides a complete range of financial products and services for personal banking, corporate banking and investment clients.

Muscat, March 31, 2020: Despite the current circumstances imposed by the global pandemic Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19), Oman Arab Bank (OAB) participated in the Earth Hour event to send a message of solidarity to protect the environment through the optimum utilisation of natural resources. This is to enhance the efforts of maintaining sustainability for future generations.

Hilal Al Siyabi, Head of Corporate Communication said, “For several years we have organised a special event on this occasion to encourage the largest number of people, including families and children, to support the objective of the Earth Hour initiative by switching off all unnecessary electrical sources for an hour. This year due to the current health condition caused by the Coronavirus, we were unable to organise this event on-ground, but instead, we continued to commit to the initiative by switching off all the lights in the Bank’s main building Saturday night, March 28.”

As part of its celebrations of Earth Hour, Oman Arab Bank launched a competition on its social media pages by asking a very important question to its followers on the most important lessons learned from the Coronavirus pandemic, concerning the relationship between humanity and the environment. The competition saw an immense interaction from the followers, wherein they shared their thoughts on what they gathered from this awakening experience, which comprised of the topics of having humanity rethink its concept of building a balanced and sustainable relationship with nature. At the end of the competition, the two best answers received prizes from OAB.

“Our participation in the Earth Hour is in line with the Bank’s strategic approach, launched earlier this year, which highlights our strategy to promote sustainability. This focuses on our three main pillars; community support, financial inclusion, as well as protecting the environment, with the recent event falling in the last category.”

Oman Arab Bank has a rich and proud history as one of the first financial institutions to be established in the Sultanate. Today, the bank operates a nationwide network of 65 branches and representative offices and 152 ATMs spread across Oman. OAB provides a complete range of financial products and services for personal banking, corporate banking and investment clients.