While I was in Dubai last month, attending a number of blockchain and fintech events, I met my friend Mohammed al Tamam, the Co-Founder and CCO of the Omani fintech Mamun. Once back home, we continue the conversation that started in UAE. I was fascinated by what I considered Mohammed’s greatest achievement: signing up a client for financial services integration outside of Oman, in Saudi Arabia.
It seems like throughout the GCC there is a new wave of fintech innovation both from regulatory perspective, as well as in tech development. During my time in Oman, between 2012 and 2016, the interoperability of financial services was close to zero. No banks were offering API integrations, and talking about fintech was like imagining the future. I am pleased to learn from Mohammed that the future has arrived in Oman.
“I won’t say that there has been a huge change over the last 6 years, but I think that from 2019 until today, is where we are seeing a big mental shift in the banking sector.” Said Mohammed al Tamam “Some of the banks that we used to talk to a year and half ago for example, have completely u-turned in the way they see financial technology. Those who never supported it, now they champion it.” This is something that I have also observed in other geographies. Once innovation becomes the talk of the day, then progresses are tracked very quickly, one after another.
“I think that the central bank of Oman is really pushing for change and transformation” continued Mohammed “that has started internally first, and now are beginning to open up to ideas such as open banking and empowering the consumers.” Open banking is the scenario when businesses can integrate financial services within their ecosystems without leaving their platforms. For example, when purchasing an item from a marketplace, we find our Internet banking interface in the shopping cart at the checkout.
“If you look at the chain of the events in terms of fintech licensing, starting from 2019, you see that Oman is headed in the right direction. For example, the Regulatory Sandbox for startups, and the Payment Services Provider license with all the cascade frameworks. It is just a beginning, but indeed significant.” Commented Mohammed, “But if we compare to other GCC countries such as Saudi Arabia, we see that there is still space to grow. Over there, they have licences for Account Information Services, Bank Account Aggregators, Micro Lending, Open Banking Services etc. Oman is going through this transformation now.”
Mohammed has also described to me the tech framework that is being created to connect the GCC. His company Mamun is playing an important role in bridging the last mile of operations for other GCC tech providers that wish to connect with the Omani banking system.
Lastly, he shared with me how the Human Resources scene has changed in the post pandemic era: “Oman and the GCC used to be a dream destination for talents in the Middle East and South Asia. Tech engineers and computer scientists were thrilled at the idea of moving here to work. But things have changed a lot. Now we find developers that are willing to earn less, as long as they can work from the comfort of their homes.”
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