Central Bank of Oman approves Maal national card fee structure and sets 20 November soft-launch

The Central Bank of Oman has approved the fee structure for the “Maal” national consumer debit and prepaid card, combining zero-fee card issuance for customers with capped merchant service fees intended to cut payment acceptance costs by up to 50% versus other cards. The CBO also confirmed a pilot soft-launch of Maal on 20 November 2025. Under the framework, banks and payment service providers will fully exempt card issuance and reissuance fees and waive annual cardholder fees, while ATM cash withdrawal and related service fees remain subject to existing CBO regulations and directives. In the initial phase, banks and payment service providers will not be charged fees for using the OmanNet infrastructure to issue and process Maal transactions. Merchant Service Fee caps apply to Maal transactions via point-of-sale terminals and e-commerce payment gateways, with tailored limits including lower caps for government entities, fixed fees for money exchange and remittance companies, preferential rates for small and medium enterprises holding the “Riyada” card, and full fee exemptions for charitable organizations accepting zakat, sadaqat and donations. During the soft-launch, most ATMs and e-commerce payment gateways are expected to accept Maal, while POS acceptance will be enabled progressively as banks update devices, starting with higher-activity locations. Banks are expected to announce the start of card issuance to customers, with broader issuance and acceptance expanding gradually thereafter.