NATIONAL BANK OF OMAN National Bank of Oman, founded in 1973, was the first bank in Oman and is currently the second largest bank in the country. They have 67 branches and 173 ATMs and CDMs combined. They have won several accolades in the past and have strong corporate governance. With retail internet banking, customers can check the account balance, manage funds transfer and pay utility bills.
National Bank of Oman head office in CBD, 24778000
Time
Recovery
A minimum of RO5 has to be deposited, if the balance is below RO100, monthly charge of 500baiza is deducted. The account activates immediately and the ATM card can ideally be collected in 2 working days. If you have applied for the e-banking service, you can collect it on the same day as the ATM card. We thought that it was fairly convenient, as we had to go to the bank just twice.
If you happen to forget your username and password, you can either inform the call centre or visit the branch and collect it immediately.
Service Though we were assisted by a trainee, the customer service executive provided us with adequate information. The service was quick and efficient.
Security The website’s security system is fairly good. It provides you with number of general security tips and guidelines. Instructions on how to activate the service too are explained briefly. However, the absence of a virtual keyboard gave us second thoughts.
Usability Signing in to the e-banking account was easy. At first we entered our resident card number and ATM PIN. After we registered we had to create a login ID and generate a new password. This made our first time experience secure. The SMS banking service at NBO lets you receive updates of account balance, your credits and debits. NBO also has a mobile application for smart phones. However, the app was not available in the Apple store or the Google store.
VERDICT
3.4/5
NBO earns second place in the e-banking battle. They are time efficient and provide us with a hasslefree e-banking service. The presence of the m-banking application pushes NBO a notch higher.
August 2012 / 39