Oman’s first national data bank becomes operational
Oman Credit & Financial Information Centre (OCFIC) on Tuesday announced the launch of the sultanate’s first national data bank centre under the brand name Mala’a.
Addressing a press conference to announce the official inauguration of Mala’a, Aadil al Saadi, managing director of Oman Credit & Financial Information Centre, said Mala’a will serve as the national credit bureau for Oman. “Initially, Mala’a’s operations will start with credit risk assessment and scoring for consumers and corporates, and later we will expand its scope to other services such as mobile lending platforms, Instant Decisioning Module, data analysis, and Fintech innovation.”
He said Mala’a will collect all relevant data available including credit and finance history, repayment history and defaults in one comprehensive database, which will act as reference for lenders to decide on extending credit to end-users.
Mala’a members comprise banking, insurance, telecommunications, audit and financial sector companies.
“By connecting multiple government entities into a cohesive national data bank, we are able to serve our members, customers and government entities with the latest technologies in credit bureau and data analytics,” Saadi said.
Another important aspect of Mala’a is that it will provide credit scores based on an individual’s payment history, which will help banks, insurers and other financial institutions in streamlining their operations in a more efficient manner.
“We will enable businesses and their aspirations by equipping them to make superior financial decisions. Such a vision can only be achieved by facilitating access to accurate, timely and reliable information through the Mala’a’s digital secured channels,” Saadi said.
Mala’a will empower corporates and consumers to have control over their data through a number of self-service channels such as the mobile app and the online platform available in both Arabic and English.
Speaking about OCFIC’s future projects, Saadi said the centre was established with a three-year long strategic planning. “Under this, first year was dedicated to the establishment of a world-class infrastructure. Second year would see the rolling out of a number of services for individual as well as corporate customers. And in the third year, more value-added services which require specialised skills would be launched.”
He added, “In January, we are going to kick-off the phase 2 of the project. In this phase, we will integrate more members and also will launch a number of selfservices and a mobile app. With the help of the app, individual customers can see their credit report or scores. This will give individuals full control over their credit scores.”
Affiliated with the Central Bank of Oman, Mala’a was established by a Royal Decree earlier this year.