Sunday 15 / November / 2026
Muscat: The Central Bank of Oman (CBO) has issued its Annual Report on National Payment Systems for 2025, which tracks the evolution of the payment ecosystem in the Sultanate of Oman and the marked growth it witnessed in digital transactions, the development of infrastructure and the implementation of strategic initiatives that enhanced the efficiency, resilience and security of national payment systems.
Indicators for 2025 showed a clear shift in payment patterns, with digital payments becoming the most widely used means, accounting for 89 percent of the total number of transactions and 81 percent of their total value across the various channels of banks and payment service providers, compared with 11 percent of the number of transactions and 19 percent of their value for cash payments. These ratios exclude cash transactions conducted outside banking channels and payment service provider channels. These indicators reflect continuous progress in the adoption of electronic payment methods among individuals and the business sector and a reduction in reliance on cash in the Sultanate of Oman.
Retail payment systems recorded notable performance during the year, with the number of transactions rising 53 percent to OMR974.19 million, while their value grew 24 percent to OMR47.80 billion. On the high-value payments side, the value of transactions executed through the Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system reached about OMR269.23 billion, registering growth of 12 percent compared with 2024, reflecting the system's pivotal role in settling large-value and priority financial transactions.
The Instant Payment System also emerged as one of the most important drivers of growth in digital payments, with the number of its transactions nearly doubling to 339.36 million during 2025, while the value of transactions executed through the system rose from OMR5.56 billion in 2024 to OMR10.45 billion in 2025, growth of approximately 88 percent, reflecting the expansion of the user base and the growing reliance on instant payments in daily transactions.
The year 2025 also witnessed the implementation of a set of qualitative initiatives, foremost among them the launch of the local bank card "Mal," which represents one of the most prominent milestones in the development of the national payments infrastructure, the enhancement of the use of the electronic direct debit mandate service in support of the shift toward electronic payment methods and reduced reliance on cheques, the expansion of the use of the International Bank Account Number (IBAN) to cover domestic transactions, and the strengthening of integration with regional payment networks.
The payments sector also witnessed notable development, represented by the expansion of point-of-sale (PoS) devices and soft point-of-sale (SoftPoS) solutions, with their total number reaching approximately 120,000 devices, growth of about 18 percent compared with 2024. In addition, the use of modern tokenisation-based payment technologies witnessed striking growth, with the number of transactions based on these technologies recording growth exceeding 600 percent during 2025, reflecting the expansion in the use of modern digital payment solutions and contributing to providing easier, more efficient, and more secure payment services for individuals and the business sector.
The report's findings affirm the Central Bank of Oman's continued development of a secure, resilient and inclusive national payments ecosystem, and the enhancement of innovation, operational efficiency, and financial inclusion, in support of the digital transformation, economic diversification, and sustainable growth journey, and in contribution to achieving the objectives of Oman Vision 2040.
