tl;dr
Arab Financial Services (AFS) and Oman Arab Bank (OAB) have enhanced their partnership by integrating tokenization with digital wallets via AFS's new platform, reducing merchant onboarding costs and improving payment security. OAB continues to lead in digital payments in Oman, having previously pion...
The Arab Financial Services (AFS) and Oman Arab Bank (OAB) have strengthened their longstanding partnership by integrating tokenization with digital wallets. This collaboration leverages AFS's new digital platform to reduce merchant onboarding costs and allows OAB to offer secure wallet services, simplifying a traditionally complex process. The tokenization feature enhances customer security by removing sensitive data from devices, reducing fraud risk, enabling broader merchant acceptance, and facilitating regulatory compliance.
OAB CEO Sulaiman Al Harthi emphasized the bank's commitment to innovation and digital transformation, positioning OAB as a leader in seamless, secure payments. Previously, OAB pioneered tokenization with Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay, leading Oman’s digital payment revolution. AFS CEO Samer Soliman noted the renewal of their partnership as a step towards creating secure, agile, and customer-centric financial services in Oman’s market. Analysts predict that OAB, valued at $600 million, will expand its customer base and valuation through AFS's functionalities.
Meanwhile, AFS has partnered with Ternoa to expand payment solutions across the Middle East and Africa, broadening its regional footprint. Oman aims to accelerate its digitization efforts by exploring blockchain applications for financial inclusivity and other economic sectors. The country is also developing a regulatory framework for digital assets to govern providers’ operations and tax obligations and is exploring block reward mining to stimulate digital economy growth and payment efficiency.
In North Africa, a report highlights a surge in digital payment adoption among Egyptian small and medium enterprises (SMEs), driven by local factors. Over 53% of merchants surveyed have integrated digital payments in the past two years, and more than half plan to adopt these technologies soon. Adopters report increased revenue, productivity, and benefits like loyalty programs and data insights. The rise of e-commerce and social media retail in Egypt is a major catalyst for this trend.
Essam El Daly, Visa’s Head of Merchant Sales and Acceptance Solution for North Africa, described the regional shift toward digital payments among SMEs. Egypt’s Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (MSMEDA) is working with Visa to support SMEs’ transition, emphasizing services such as Tap to Pay and contactless payments. Government initiatives also support payment digitization, with plans for a central bank digital currency (CBDC) by the decade’s end and a digitalization strategy launching in early 2025.
Egypt is committed to integrating emerging technologies to avoid reliance on external digital systems, investing heavily in AI and other innovations to improve governance, environment, and human resource services across key economic sectors.