Central Bank of Oman · Fintech & Banking Licences
Advisory for institutions seeking a Central Bank of Oman licence — and for Omani founders building within the framework. From feasibility through a complete, CBO-ready file to a live, supervised business.
Why this is credible
I co-authored Oman's National Payment Systems Law — Royal Decree 8/2018 — the statute the country's fintech licensing sits within, and spent six years inside the Central Bank of Oman on payment systems oversight and the national payment infrastructure.
What that means for you is plain: I know how the regulator reads an application, what a complete file looks like, and where applications stall — because I helped build the rules they are read against. The edge is knowledge of the framework, never influence over the decision.
Beyond the regulator: I have led the delivery of three CBO-licensed products at Omani institutions — a pioneering mobile wallet, a greenfield payment service provider, and a cross-border PSP — from inception to live market.
The opportunity
Oman has just rewritten its financial rulebook. A new Banking Law (02/2025), a dedicated digital-bank framework, mature payment-systems legislation, and an emerging virtual-asset regime have opened several licensed routes at once — while no digital bank is yet live at scale. The neighbours moved first and their first-movers scaled in months. The binding constraint here is not capital; it is knowing how to clear the regulator.
National Payment Systems Law 08/2018
Acquiring, transfers and the rails beneath them — the licence I have taken to market three times.
NPSL 08/2018
Stored value, prepaid and consumer wallets for a young, mobile-first population.
CBO · NPSL 08/2018
A deep, recurring expatriate flow that today's banks serve slowly and expensively.
Decision 25/2025 · Banking Law 02/2025
Full retail and business banking, mobile-first. Category 1 at OMR 30M, Category 2 at OMR 10M — live since June 2025.
FSA framework — in finalisation
Exchanges, tokens and custody under a regime still taking shape — a different regulator from the CBO, and I'll say so plainly.
Across each track above
Fully digital Shariah-compliant accounts, cards and financing — a structure layered onto any of the above.
One honest distinction: payments and banking sit with the Central Bank of Oman, where I spent six years and co-authored the law. Virtual assets sit with the Financial Services Authority — adjacent to my core, not the centre of it. I'll always be candid about where my depth runs deepest, and where it doesn't.
What I do
Each can be commissioned on its own, or laddered into the full path from intent to live. Priced as fixed-fee deliverables; the programme office runs on retainer.
How I work
Buy one phase at a time. Each engagement ends in a decision point — including the freedom to stop.
NDA-first, with disciplined handling of your plans, financials and shareholders. Your intent stays your own.
I commit to a complete, well-managed file — not to a decision that is the regulator's alone to make.
Recommendations made for your fit, not for a fee. Any partnership is disclosed before it is proposed.
Today, Musafir International is principal-led — me, with a bench of named specialists brought in as an engagement requires them. Honest about the stage; serious about the standard.
The path
Market, model, capital — and the go / no-go.
Entity, cap table, capital plan.
A complete, CBO-ready submission.
Managing the file to a decision.
Conditional approval to incorporate.
Platform, partners and policies.
Launch under ongoing CBO oversight.
The Central Bank of Oman decides within 90 days of a complete file. Most applications stall not on merit, but on what "complete" means — which is where the work begins.
A first conversation
A short, private conversation to understand your ambition and whether the fit is there — not a commitment. Held in confidence.
Thank you — your note has been received in confidence. I'll be in touch privately.