Bank Sohar, the newest commercial bank in Oman has selected Arab Financial Services Company (AFS) as its outsourcing partner.

Under the agreement, AFS will provide services including EMV credit and pre-paid card processing, card personalisation, fraud monitoring and loyalty management to the bank.

AFS currently provides payment card processing services to more than 50 banks and financial institutions across the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and South Asia. AFS has been operating for over a decade in Oman and now provides credit card processing services to four of the six local commercial retail banks.

“AFS is delighted to be working with Bank Sohar who is at the cutting edge of Oman banking. We have used our regional experience, superior technology and talented staff to ensure that innovative card solutions are provided to Bank Sohar customers, said  Shankar Sharma, chief executive officer at AFS.

Bank Sohar CEO, Nani B. Javeri commented: “We believe that our customers deserve nothing less than excellence hence we are investing in the world’s most advanced information technology infrastructure with the aim of offering the highest levels of service to our customers. In line with this strategy, we decided that outsourcing was the best option for supporting our Visa credit and pre-paid card programs and we chose AFS as our processing partner. AFS stood out from other outsourcing companies given their proven credit card issuing experience in Oman combined with their commitment to deliver quickly and efficiently.”

Shankar Sharma added: “It has been a pleasure working with Bank Sohar for the last three months and I’m also very pleased to announce that the first phase of their project has already been completed. The pre-paid Visa card program is now available to the bank’s customers and the EMV compliant Visa credit card is also ready to be launched. We are very proud to have implemented these card solutions in such a short timescale and we look forward to supporting other Bank Sohar initiatives in the years ahead.”

Bank Sohar was incorporated in March 2007, with a paid up capital of OMR 100 million. The Bank commenced operations with a soft launch in April followed by a formal inauguration in May 2007.--TradeArabia News Service