RO 8.2Bn in H1 2026: Oman's Instant Payments Outpace OmanNet

New Central Bank of Oman (CBO) data released this month shows the Sultanate's mobile instant payment system has pulled decisively ahead of the long-dominant OmanNet card network in transaction value, a sign that Omani consumers and businesses are shifting fast toward app-based transfers even as the regulator rolls out fresh fee cuts designed to accelerate the trend further.

📊 Key Takeaways

• The Mobile Payments Clearing and Switching System (MPCSS) processed 224.2 million transactions worth RO 8.218 billion in the first half of 2026, up 49% in volume and 72% in value year-on-year, according to CBO figures reported by Oman Observer.
• OmanNet still leads on raw transaction count, with 359.5 million transactions in H1 2026, but its total value of RO 4.71 billion is now roughly RO 3.5 billion behind MPCSS.
• Across all retail payment systems, volumes hit 606.5 million transactions worth RO 29.2 billion in H1 2026, up 38% in volume and 28% in value.
• The data predates a July 1, 2026 CBO reform that scrapped fees on local digital transfers for individuals and SMEs and cut the maximum Scan and Pay merchant fee to 0.50% from 0.75%, meaning second-half 2026 numbers should show an even sharper shift.
• Electronic cheque usage kept declining across the board, consistent with the CBO's stated goal of a "less-cash, less-cheque" economy.

💳 What the numbers actually show

The MPCSS, Oman's instant mobile payment rail that underpins apps used for peer-to-peer transfers and merchant scan-and-pay, moved RO 8.218 billion across 224.2 million transactions in the first six months of 2026, a 72% jump in value and 49% jump in volume compared with the same period last year, based on CBO figures cited by Oman Observer's reporting on September 14, 2026.

OmanNet, the debit card switching network that has anchored point-of-sale payments in Oman for years, still handled more individual transactions: 359.5 million of them, around 135 million more than MPCSS. But its total value came in at RO 4.71 billion, up a comparatively modest 10% on value even though volume rose 34%. In practical terms, Omanis are still swiping cards for lots of small, everyday purchases, but they are increasingly using instant mobile transfers to move larger sums, rent, salaries, supplier payments, and bigger-ticket purchases.

Zooming out, the CBO's combined retail payment system data (MPCSS, OmanNet, ACH, and ECC together) shows 606.5 million transactions worth RO 29.2 billion for H1 2026, up 38% in volume and 28% in value year-on-year. The Automated Clearing House, used mainly for salary batches and recurring payments, processed 20.85 million transactions worth RO 10.83 billion, both up roughly a quarter.

✂️ Why the timing matters: the July fee cuts

This H1 data was collected before the CBO's most recent policy shift took effect. From July 1, 2026, the central bank waived fees on local digital fund transfers made by individuals and SMEs through RTGS, ACH, and the Instant Payment System when routed through digital banking channels, including e-wallets. The same reform trimmed the maximum merchant fee on QR-based Scan and Pay transactions to 0.50%, down from 0.75%, capped at RO 2 per transaction, a change aimed squarely at small retailers who had complained that merchant fees made accepting instant payments less attractive than cash.

CBO Governor Ahmed Al Musalmi framed the move as a deliberate push, not a passive trend:

Because the H1 2026 figures predate the fee cut, the real test of its impact will show up in the second-half data. Given that MPCSS growth was already outpacing OmanNet before merchant fees dropped, an acceleration in the second half looks likely, though it is not yet confirmed by CBO figures.

🏦 The infrastructure behind the numbers

None of this growth happens by accident. It rides on infrastructure the CBO has been building for several years: a 24/7 real-time gross settlement system, the domestic Maal card scheme, and a widening roster of licensed fintechs and payment service providers competing to plug into OmanNet and MPCSS rails. For businesses trying to make sense of which local payment provider fits their needs, our comparison of Oman's top digital payment gateways for SMEs and startups breaks down pricing and OmanNet integration across the market's main players.

The growth also lands against a backdrop of broader fintech experimentation the CBO has been greenlighting this year, from sandbox approvals for buy-now-pay-later lending to new merchant fee structures, all part of an effort to nudge Oman further from cash and cheques toward digital rails that are cheaper to operate and easier to monitor for compliance and anti-money-laundering purposes.

🇴🇲 Why this matters for Oman

Payment data might seem like a dry statistic, but it is one of the clearest real-time indicators of how fast Oman's digital economy is actually maturing, as opposed to how fast officials say it is maturing. A 72% jump in instant payment value in a single half-year, combined with a deliberate fee cut engineered to push adoption further, signals that the CBO is not just building digital rails and hoping people use them; it is actively pricing cash and cheques out of favour. For SMEs, cheaper merchant fees on Scan and Pay could meaningfully lower the cost of doing business. For Oman's Vision 2040 digital economy targets, rising instant-payment value is a tangible, measurable proxy for progress that regulators, banks, and fintech investors will be watching closely when the second-half 2026 numbers land.