Bank Sohar — celebrating a decade of banking excellence
MUSCAT: Over the past decade, Bank Sohar has emerged as one of Oman’s leading financial institutions, identifying emerging trends and exceeding customer expectations every step of the way. Offering a total lifecycle approach to Retail and Corporate clients, including the growing SME sector, Bank Sohar provides a comprehensive and flexible range of products and services while adhering to the highest standards of integrity.
Bank Sohar has witnessed steady growth establishing itself as one of the most prominent banks in the country. As a matter of fact, the bank’s assets, since inception has grown by a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 20 per cent. It has managed to maintain steady financial performance throughout the last two years despite challenging market conditions; a clear testament to the strength of Bank Sohar’s business model, loyalty of its customers, vision of the Board of Directors, and collective efforts of the bank staff.
Bank Sohar’s strategies, customer and community focused approach, and financial strength have earned countless awards and recognitions over these past ten years. These range from excellence in performance, products and service quality, customer service, social media and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR); each of which serves as a testament of the bank’s commitment to uphold excellence in all its endeavours. SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE Being a responsible business has been integral to Bank Sohar’s success. As one of the more prominent banks in the country, its economic and social resources have given the bank significant reach and potential to make an impact on the community. Thus, and as a part of its operational philosophy, Bank Sohar has always made significant contributions towards community development across the Sultanate as well as several other causes across different fields. With each passing year, the bank strives to ensure that its contributions are carefully planned and evaluated to diversify and reach out to the maximum number of people especially those in most need of it, offering them both; hope and support.
The bank has supported over 30 organisations around the Sultanate under its social responsibility programme; many of which it has supported several times over multiple years. These range from child care centres and charity organisations to association that offer support to the differently abled of our community and those suffering from terminal illnesses.
However, the external support and donations provided by the bank account for only one half of its CSR activities. The other comprises of the several initiatives of its own that the bank organises on a regular basis. These include the likes of beach cleanups, awareness road shows, and even partnering with organisations such as Dar al Atta’a in various charitable initiatives such as Ramadhan ration distributions, visits to less fortunate families, and hospitals; most of which have seen active participation from the bank staff. In addition, the bank’s staff have also actively participated in several awareness campaigns, walkathons and initiatives run by other organisations over the years.
As per His Majesty Sultan Qaboos directives and complementing the efforts of the ROP, the bank has recently been giving increased importance to promoting road safety by introducing year-long awareness campaigns and sponsoring several initiatives and awareness campaigns over the years including Traffic Awareness Cycling Tour, ROP exhibitions, ROP Traffic Safety Week and much more.
The bank also partnered up with Oman Road Safety Association (ORSA) several times in order to support a number of their initiatives, as well as to maximise the reach of the bank’s own traffic awareness campaigns.
These initiatives that the bank has hosted over the years include monthly tips on road safety, traffic awareness calendars, road shows, school visits, and much more. The most popular campaign of its kind to date has been the ‘Rakkiz Wa Souq’ Road Safety awareness campaign; which was launched in May 2016 with a jingle that quickly grew in popularity and has since become the anchor of a campaign that has encompassed several road shows, school visits, social media contests, and awareness initiatives. The bank continues to build on this success in 2017 with plans in place to further expand on the concept and related initiatives in the coming months.
NETWORKING Bank Sohar strives to ensure that customers have easy access to its comprehensive portfolio of products and service, offering various channels of interaction across the Sultanate. These include a network of 29 conventional branches and 5 Sohar Islamic Branches; all with ATM and CDM facility to have a total of 56 ATMs under the OmanNet platform.
Moreover, the ATMs located at the Buraimi and Shinas borders operate with the ‘Dirhams Dispensing’ facility; thus adding immense convenience to businessmen who travel and transact business across the border on a regular basis, as well as to customers who visit the United Arab Emirates.
Other touch points have grown primarily to include digital platforms such as social media and website as well as a mobile App enabling banking in one minute!
DIGITAL EVOLUTION To satisfy its customer’s ‘on-thego’ Banking needs, Bank Sohar offers a complete range of Internet Banking and SMS Banking services. Taking it a step further, the bank also offers a bilingual ‘One-Minute Mobile Banking’ App on Android and iOS devices for Bank Sohar and Sohar Islamic.
The App features the very latest in mobile banking technology with advanced security capabilities and an innovative self-registration system. The App utilises a streamlined look in addition to modern and easy navigation; allowing customers to do banking in one minute including viewing account, transfer funds, pay bills, renew fixed deposit accounts, and much more. Having hit the 10,000-download barrier within months of it being launched in year 2016, the App continues to gain popularity
Alongside its various online offerings, Bank Sohar’s social media identities have witnessed tremendous growth since their inception in 2013; currently standing at almost 50,000 fans on Facebook, and over 9,500 and 6,500 followers on Instagram and twitter respectively. Such channels allow customers to provide their feedback through which concerns and queries can be addressed as well as allow the bank to communicate any updates that it may have regarding activities, products, services, and much more. Further adding to this experience, the bank regularly conducts competitions across its social media platforms, each of which have proved to be highly successful and grown to be increasingly popular with followers.
In keeping with the ideology of constantly innovating with new technology, digitization and implementing the Bank’s infrastructure to achieve its Vision, Bank Sohar successfully launched its Technology Transformation Program in January 2017.
This program saw the upgrade of the Bank’s Finacle Core Banking System, Implementation of the Digitization Business Process Management Tool, and 60+ Web Services launched on new generation IBM Integration Bus Middleware. With Customer Centricity and Digital Innovation as key objectives, the program enables the bank to provide 24 x 7 Universal Banking Services across its all branches and channels with digital processing of customer, account, loans with paperless technology and faster turnaround times. The bank has equipped itself with a new Payments Hub platform, which allows it to integrate Local and International payments on Straight Through processing (STP) with secured and faster payment processing.
The bank is enabled to provide its services through digital channels and value added partners through a Middleware platform. These changes will see Customers being benefited for the first time in Oman with end-toend Digital experience.