Oman Arab Bank Achieves Revenue Growth and ROI from SMS Based Banking Services

· Derdack’s mobile messaging platform ensures Rapid Return on Investment

Potsdam, Germany, 15th December, 2008: Derdack (www.derdack.com), provider of mobile messaging platforms and notification workflow software today announced that Oman Arab Bank, a leading bank in Oman, has achieved significant efficiencies in customer service and the opening of new revenue streams from SMS-based mobile banking. Oman Arab Bank implemented BANKSMART™ from Acette Technologies, which is powered by Derdack’s message master® xsp.

The bank’s new “Tawasul” SMS based mobile banking service is a key tool for customer acquisition and retention, and increasing market share in Oman. Mr. Hassan Abdul Ali Al-Lawati, Deputy General Manager IT-Head at Oman Arab Bank said, “We selected BANKSMART™, powered by message master® xsp, as it has the flexibility to be configured to meet our sophisticated requirements. We now have a system that uniquely delivers both English and Arabic mobile banking functionality and has powerful features for exploiting SMS as a two way communication channel.”

Oman Arab Bank’s mobile banking service allows customers to access their accounts using any standard mobile phone device. Customers are notified of account activity and other bank advices and confirmations are sent automatically by SMS. Alerts are generated on predefined events such as salary credits, account transactions or ATM withdrawals.

The bank has also found message master® xsp’s ability to support ‘Push and Pull’ marketing campaigns to be invaluable. Marketing and other bulk messages are sent via a high speed interface to multiple mobile operators via SMSC links and inbound SMS requests are automatically processed. This gives the bank a highly cost effective, responsive and targeted customer communication channel.

Oman Arab Bank has differentiated itself from competitors in its use of SMS as a key enabler of banking and payment services. It is the only bank in Oman that offers a range of options that can be accessed using SMS, e.g. account transfers, utility payments, smartcard top-ups and real-time payments to mobile operators.

Oman Arab Bank has devised a unique strategy for using BANKSMART™ and message master® xsp to validate customer SMS requests using secure authentication tokens. This ensures that only genuine transactions are processed, and enhances overall security. Oman Arab Bank has also simplified the process of transferring mobile prepaid credits. Topup credit can be purchased through a retailer, who can then securely transfer the credit, in real-time directly to the customer via SMS. “We are the only bank that provides a top-up service for both mobile networks in Oman and this has opened up a new revenue generation channel,” said Mr Al-Lawati.

“The project to implement our Tawasul mobile banking services has been a big success. We have seen a positive return on investment and our highly flexible infrastructure means that we now have the ability to develop new SMS alerts or services quickly,” concluded Mr Hatem Ali Executive Manager e-Banking.

Sunil Sivanand, Managing Director of Acette Technologies added, “The bank has pushed the boundaries of what can be achieved using BANKSMART™ and message master® xsp. We have continually improved product flexibility to address the mobile banking, multi-lingual and multi-cultural banking needs of the middle-east region.”

Matthes Derdack, Managing Director of Derdack commented, “Oman Arab Bank has shown what can be achieved by combining expert local knowledge, an innovative vision of how to exploit the SMS channel and the latest technology for mobile banking, to achieve revenue and customer growth.”

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About Derdack GmbH

Derdack is an independent software vendor offering mobile messaging platforms and notification workflow software. Derdack’s premium products provide clients with unsurpassed service innovation and business continuity. Derdack is headquartered in Potsdam, Germany and has several hundred installations. A thriving Partner channel extends the company’s reach globally.

Derdack is recognized for its intuitive yet inspiring software products and has customers in over 50 countries worldwide and in all verticals. Clients include BMW UK, Caterpillar Belgium, Daimler, Microsoft Ireland, Roche Switzerland, Siemens Germany, Steria UK, Symantec and Telstra Australia. For further information please visit www.derdack.com.

About Oman Arab Bank

A powerful presence in Oman, Oman Arab Bank (OAB) was established on 1st October 1984 as a closed joint stock company. The bank began its operations after acquiring the branches of Arab Bank Plc., Jordan, which had been operating in Oman since 1973. Then in 1992, operations in the Sultanate were further expanded by the acquisition of all the retail branches of Omani European Bank, with which OAB then merged in 1994. 49% of the Bank’s share capital is held by Arab Bank Plc. and the remaining 51% is held by a leading Omani Investment Company, Oman International Development and Investment Co. SAOG. For further information please visit www.omanab.com.

Press contact: Adam Osman, Rivercalm, email: adam.osman {at} rivercalm(.)com Tel: +44 (20) 7152 6118