Central Bank of Oman (CBO) has selected BASE24-eps, an online payments processing software as the foundation for the new national switch in Oman, from ACI Worldwide, a provider of electronic payments software and solutions.
The CBO has also selected ACI Simulation Services for Enterprise Testing (ASSET) which will be used by the bank internally for testing, as well as by the national switch member banks for the certification process with CBO. BASE24-eps will be the retail payments engine for the debit processing platform, providing intelligent transaction authentication, authorization and routing capabilities.
The project involves consolidating the previous two independent switches into one central solution under the ownership of the central bank, and migrating all financial institutions onto the common platform. The new system is expected to be able to handle EMV transactions, and the project includes a national roll-out of EMV technology for all financial institutions in Oman.
Ralph Dangelmaier, president, global markets and services at ACI Worldwide, said: “The CBO outlined its plans for a national payment system in 2003, and this final project is the culmination of that work. The CBO recognizes the vital role technology can play, and the agility, reliability and scalability of BASE24-eps will help the bank deliver the solution it needs to the entire country.”