Oman Arab Bank opts for BPC’s SmartVista for payments
Oman © Wikipedia
Oman Arab Bank (OAB) has selected BPC Banking Technologies’ SmartVista suite for its payment business.
SmartVista will replace the existing legacy platform, ACI Worldwide’s Open2. BPC says following a review and bid process, OAB selected its suite over ACI Worldwide and HPS.
Fahd Amjad, GM retail banking at Oman Arab Bank, says the partnership with BPC gives it the “ability to innovate products and adapt our business offerings to changing consumer demands”.
The bank will use SmartVista to manage its ATMs, comply with future standards for the introduction of EMV; and provide card issuing and fraud prevention.
SmartVista will be interfaced to the bank’s core banking software, Misys’ Equation for conventional banking operations and Path Solutions’ iMAL for Islamic financing.
In the future OAB will offer EMV compliant Visa card products as well as support local cards (Islamic) based on Visa Electron. The bank will also acquire AmEx cards for the first time; and SmartVista will provide support for e-commerce for Visa debit cards issued by OAB.
OAB was established in 1984. It is jointly owned by Ominvest (51%) and the Arab Bank Group (49%). It has more than 65 branches and offices, and more than 123 ATMs in Oman.
A look at SmartVista
BPC’s SmartVista has enjoyed two recent deals in two very different locations.
It teamed with Da Afghanistan Bank to launch a SmartVista-powered national payment system in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan Payments Systems (APS), a consortium of financial institutions funded by Da Afghanistan Bank (the nation’s central bank) through the World Bank, aims to develop the retail banking market in the troubled nation by providing electronic and mobile payment services.
New Zealand’s largest retail chain – Warehouse Group – also chose the SmartVista payments suite for its financial services business.
The initiative is called “Warehouse Money” and offers the retailer’s consumers the chance to save 5% on purchases via a new Visa card or earn “purple dollars” via the Purple card.
