Oman’s National Payment Systems and their Compliance with International Standards and Practices

Payment systems play a major part in the conduct of a country's monetary policy, financial sector and economic development. These systems are key tools for the economy in general and the banking and financial sectors in particular. The central bank plays a leading role, in investing, developing, enhancing and managing these systems. This research gives an overview of payment systems in Oman and their compliance to international standards and practices. Also illustrates the experience of payment systems approaches in developed countries (USA, UK and Australia) and regional Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. It shows that there are some gaps in Oman’s payment systems with international standards and practices. Central bank of Oman (CBO) has to give the attention to these gaps to make payment systems more safe and effective and to comply with best practices. The financial crisis and technology changes have exposed how important the interconnections are among the banking system and payment systems. That suggests the need to strengthen the fundamental parts of a financial infrastructure, particularly in payment systems. The current issues in the Oman’s payment systems may be an obstacle and against best practices. Therefore, they need to be highlighted for resolution.