The Central Bank of Oman (CBO) began running ProgressSoft’s Mobile Payment Switching and Clearing solution (PS-mpClear) today, becoming the first country in the GCC to implement the pioneering system. The project comes as part of a number of payment solutions that ProgressSoft has been working on for Oman’s Central Bank that provide the automation of various clearinghouse services, which CBO offers to banks and their customers in the Sultanate.
PS-mpClear is a real-time payment switching and clearing solution which processes inter-bank and inter-processor mobile payment transactions. PS-mpClear supports the processing and switching of mobile financial and non-financial transactions on a Straight-Through Processing (STP) basis, routing messages between multiple mobile payment service providers.
The solution will also help attain one more milestone, the provision of a safe and secure instantaneous fund transfer mechanism through the use of mobile devices, the only requirement being a mobile number to complete the payment transfer. This will provide accessibility and convenience, as well as encourage wider use of electronic payments in the Sultanate of Oman.
H.E. Hamood bin Sangour Al Zadjali, the Executive President of CBO, hailed the banking community in the country as well as the implementing company, ProgressSoft, for its unbending support and for their role in the fulfillment of the national objective of the CBO: the provision of a safe, reliable and secure payment infrastructure for the country.
The system promises interoperability and a unified switching and clearing service between various mobile banking systems operated by banks therein, promoting enhanced efficiency and security of payments made with mobile devices. PS-mpClear will support Oman’s National E-Government Strategy which aims to modernize the banking system, reducing the use of physical currency.
Mr. Michael Wakileh, CEO of ProgressSoft Corporation expressed that “ProgressSoft’s total National Payment ecosystem in Oman is now accomplished with our Mobile Payment Clearing Platform; we will showcase an ideal model for mobile payment interoperability in the country.”
PS-mpClear will encourage financial inclusion within the country as it makes transactions more accessible to unbanked citizens, tourists and expatriates within the country. The system accommodates a wide range of payment transactions including Person-to-Person (P2P), Person to Business (P2B), Person to Government (P2G), Person to Merchant (P2M), Business to Person (B2P), Government to Person (G2P) and Business-to-Business (B2B).
The partnership between CBO and ProgressSoft to modernize the national payment system began in 2009 with the launch of the Electronic Check Clearing solution (PS-ECC) that is currently running across all banks within the country, which offers a same-day check clearing process, availing the deposited amounts during the same banking day.
In 2015, the CBO awarded implementation contracts to ProgressSoft for a number of solutions to upgrade the payments infrastructure in the Sultanate. These included the implementation of ProgressSoft’s Automated Clearing House solution (PS-ACH), the Mandate Management System (PS-ACH/MMS), the Wage Protection System (PS-WPS), the Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (PS-EBPP), the Mobile Payment Clearing System (PS-mpClear) and the Payments Dispute Management System (PS-DMS).
ProgressSoft continues its partnership with the CBO through various channels which include the sponsorship and support for the creation of conferences on an international scale. One such upcoming conference is the first International Electronic Payments Conference, taking place in Salalah, Oman on the 1st and 2nd of August, 2017. ProgressSoft cooperated with CBO and the organizer of the event to bring speakers with vast experience in payments and the economics of various countries and regions around the world, to benefit the attendees of the event with their knowledge and experience. The experts come from several different renowned institutions including The World Bank, the European Central Bank, the Central Bank of the UAE, and the Central Bank of Kuwait.