Bank Dhofar seeks opportunities to invest and capitalize on the power of artificial intelligence systems
BankDhofar the leading financial institution in the Sultanate of Oman - invested in modern technologies to keep pace with the technological transformations that appear in the world from time to time, especially in the banking sector, in addition to supporting the goals of Oman Vision 2040 of building a sustainable knowledge society and developing the Information Technology industry in Sultanate of Oman.
BankDhofar seeks to adopt artificial intelligence systems and integrate financial technologies into its services to provide an enriching and cost-efficient customer experience to ensure that it remains at the forefront of the banking services sector.
Dr.Tariq Saleh Taha, Chief Information Officer at Bank Dhofar said: “Technology has brought about a major change in the framework of the banking sector and in various financial institutions, and has even contributed to increasing the intensity of competition between them to provide the best reliable products and services to customers.” Pointing out that artificial intelligence systems are among the most widespread systems that can contribute to bringing about many fundamental transformations in the banking sector. He explained that these systems allow bank officials to communicate with customers through “chat bots” that will be linked to popular social messaging platforms such as Facebook Messenger, and WhatsApp, which in turn contributes to solving customers’ problems and complaints efficiently, as well as responding to their inquiries related to detailed information about Products, ATMs, foreign exchange rates, branch hours, etc.
Artificial intelligence systems contribute to reducing the bank's operational costs, reducing errors, increasing revenues, and improving the efficiency and productivity of employees. These systems also help bank employees make safe loan and credit decisions, which ensures achieving more profits, as well as making investment decisions, supporting research in this aspect, writing reports based on financial data, and combating money laundering and fraud. Artificial intelligence is a very effective and powerful tool to reduce such types of crimes.
He added: “Bank Dhofar is one of the first banks in the Sultanate of Oman to implement a business process management platform and automate robotic processes that cover a large number of operations across the bank. This has led to positive developments in customer service, reduced human errors, and enhanced internal controls. The bank has benefited from the applications of artificial intelligence technologies in the “know your customer ”thru digital onboarding , and is currently in the early stages of exploring the application of generative artificial intelligence and enhancing office automation.
The bank recently launched an innovative service, “Dhofar Pay,” which is the first of its kind in the Sultanate of Oman. The service allows customers to pay via smartphones running the Android system easily and securely without the need to use the debit card.
BankDhofar has been able to expand its digital scope by providing customers with the opportunity to open bank accounts through smartphones and other digital channels that enable them to complete their banking transactions with complete ease at the appropriate time and place, which has led to an increase in the total number of transactions through digital channels in 2023 to approximately 85.5%, in addition to an increase in the value of completed transactions by 55.3%.
BankDhofar also allows customers, through the mobile banking application, to manage their accounts, pay bills, transfer money, and open a new account online easily through the “Intilaqah” application without the need to visit any branches.
