Bank Muscat Najahi to provide special offers to MSME sector
MUSCAT: Bank Muscat, the flagship financial services provider in the Sultanate, in line with its vision ‘To serve you better, everyday’ and commitment to diversifying the Sultanate’s economy, is organising a special event for Micro and Small businesses from April 14-18. The unique five-day event comes in line with the vank’s vision of covering all segments of the MSME sector in the Sultanate and helping develop Omani youth.
Customers interested in applying for a loan during this period can provide basic details at a dedicated webpage after which they will be contacted by Bank Muscat officials to follow up on their application process. An added advantage to customers is that only 50 per cent processing fees will be charged for loans given during the week. Micro and small businesses are eligible for Bank Muscat’s special najahi products, which are aimed at facilitating financial inclusion and helping develop Omani youth to their full potential.
Securing credit without collateral and accessing innovative banking services have been hurdles faced by micro and small businesses in the past. The specially designed najahi products mainly include credit facilities without the need for collateral to develop and grow micro and small businesses. Bank Muscat’s Najahi is the only financial product from any bank in the Sultanate to offer loans without any collateral.
The najahi suite of products includes the value-added najahi Current Account, najahi Flexi Loan to support working capital, business expansion and other business needs; the najahi Business Credit Card; and najahi PoS Receivables financing for customers who use PoS machines for sales. All financing options are available to the Bank’s customers ‘collateral free’.
The value-added najahi Current Account offers differentiated services, including Business Debit Card, branded cheque book, and online banking services.
The najahi Business Debit Card offers a daily withdrawal limit of RO 1,000. The business debit card helps customers to meet day-to-day cash requirements conveniently without the need to visit the teller counter for small value transactions.
Maintaining cash flow is a major challenge faced by small businesses. Addressing this critical need, Bank Muscat launched the firstof-its-kind collateral free najahi Flexi Loan facility. This facility allows customers to choose when to avail a loan and for what period. Customers pay interest only when they avail the loan and not when the facility is granted.
For short-term financing, the bank has launched the najahi point of sale (PoS) financing product. The specially-designed short-term finance facilitates borrowing for working capital requirements simply based on the track record of sales that a business route through their Bank Muscat PoS machines. The higher the proportion of non-cash sales, the higher the loan eligibility.
The key features of najahi PoS financing include daily instalment repayments. A small amount is automatically deducted daily from customers’ bank account to repay the loan. The evergreen facility allows najahi customers to keep repaying and replenishing the loan, thereby ensuring assured cash flow.
As with other najahi credit facilities, customers are not required to provide any collateral guarantee for PoS financing. The convenience and speed of najahi PoS finance help customers to meet their requirement of growth financing. In a quick and hasslefree process, customers with a 1-year PoS track record are eligible to avail the collateral-free finance.
Bank Muscat has launched a series of initiatives covering all segments of the SME sector in Oman. Serving as building blocks for entrepreneurs, these initiatives assume importance in the backdrop of the priority accorded by the government to develop the MSME sector in Oman.