Bank Sohar Deploys Path Solutions’ iMAL Islamic Banking Software

Path Solutions, the global leader in information technology for the Islamic financial services industry said  that Sohar Islamic, the Islamic window of Bank Sohar Muscat has gone live successfully on iMAL across its entire operations to offer Corporate and Retail Banking, Treasury and Trade Finance services to its customers through its four branches located in Muscat, Batinah, Salalah and Dakhiliya regions, with plans to operate more branches over the next few years underpinned by Path Solutions’ iMAL.

The first three branches went live on iMAL in May 2013 and the fourth and final branch earmarked for 2013 has gone live recently.

Built on new generation technologies, the iMAL Islamic banking solution is one of the most technically advanced banking systems available today.

iMAL combines flexible business functionality with scalable infrastructure, so it can help banks address today’s challenges and anticipate tomorrow’s opportunities.

“We are excited about the implementation of iMAL solution at Sohar Islamic, where the centralized Islamic core banking system will enable the bank to grow its business ten-fold over the next three years”, Path Solutions’ Senior Vice President – Professional Services Alain Abou Khalil said.

“We are strongly committed to ensuring that Sohar Islamic is among the other iMAL clients in the Sultanate of Oman who enjoy the broad and reliable after sales support services our team provides”.

Speaking on the occasion, Mohammed Soud Al Naamani, Sr. chief manager IT Project Management & Business Support at Sohar Islamic commented, “The successful implementation of the project in record time is a reflection of our commitment to deliver efficient service to our customers. iMAL has improved our capacity to provide value-added, customer-centric on-line and in-branch Islamic banking products and services, while complying with local regulations”.

Bank Sohar earlier this year, increased its capital base in order to launch Sohar Islamic in line with the Central Bank of Oman stipulation.

The proposed Islamic banking window plans to adhere to the highest level of Sharia compliance by meeting certain key conditions including: Complete segregation of funds; existence of a Sharia supervisory board; committed management; and the availability of the world’s best Islamic banking software in compliance with the standards of AAOIFI.

 iMAL now gives Sohar Islamic a consolidated view of all interactions. It will also allow the bank to benefit from Sharia-compliant automated workflow to keep pace with competitive dynamics and customer demands.