NBO partners with BUNA to facilitate seamless cross-border payments

Muscat: National Bank of Oman (NBO) has recently signed an agreement to join the Buna Payment System. Buna is a cross-border and multi-currency payment system that allows customers to send and receive payments across the Arab region and facilitates remittances, trade and commerce between countries in the Arab World. This move reflects the Bank's efforts to meet the needs of its customers and make every experience simpler and more seamless.

Abdullah Al Hinai, CEO of NBO, said, “The introduction of Buna is a huge step forward for NBO and our customers and as we look to provide more intuitive platforms and offer our customers more efficient and secure payment solutions. We are proud of our team for achieving this milestone and we look forward to working with our partners at Buna to unlock opportunities, as one. I would like to express my gratitude to the Central Bank of Oman for supporting this initiative which is in keeping with the efforts to advance the national payment systems in Oman.”

Mehdi Manaa, Chief Executive Officer of Buna, said: "We are pleased to welcome National Bank of Oman in Buna's network of participants. The adhesion of the bank to Buna's platform strengthens efforts to increase trade relations between the Arab world and beyond and helps in the development of cross-border payments in the region, allowing for a smooth process of money transfers.” He added: "At this occasion, I would also like to thank the Central Bank of Oman for its continuous support to Buna."

Buna supports trade retail and commerce through credit transfers which constitute the majority of intra-Arab payment volumes, interbank transfers across borders and remittances where the platform has lowered costs and streamlined services. Customers can also make instant payments with end-to-end tracking and monitoring. Buna is linked to regional and global networks to clear and settle card payments at point of sale and ATMs.

Buna was founded by the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) in 2018 and created in execution of the Council of Governors of the Arab Central Banks and Monetary Authorities. The service aims to empower Arab economies, strengthen regional integration, streamline trade relationships and ease financial inclusion of commercial banks, central banks and other financial institutions across the region into one centralised platform. Buna is supported by the highest international standards of information security and requirements against financial crime.

To find out more information about NBO’s Private Banking solutions, as well as other products and services, please visit www.nbo.om, contact the NBO Call Centre, or download the free NBO Mobile App.