IBMB offline Qorus-Infosys Finacle Banking Innovation Awards 2024

Bank Muscat is the leading financial institution in Oman with a strong presence in Corporate Banking, Personal Banking, Investment Banking, Islamic Banking, Treasury, Private Banking and Asset Management.

Redefining Banking Accessibility & Availability to customers, we are excited to present the IBMB Offline, our innovative project that is reshaping the landscape of banking services, for consideration in the Innovation Excellence Award category.

IBMB Offline reflects our commitment to pushing the boundaries of digital banking, introducing a pioneering unique offline solution that addresses the evolving needs of our customers & users. In an era dominated by innovative technologies, IBMB Offline stands out as a testament to our Bank’s vison, creativity, resilience, and dedication to serve our customer, better everyday.

Our submission encapsulates the essence of innovation, and we are eager to share how IBMB Offline is transforming the traditional digital banking experience. As you delve, you will discover how IBMB Offline seamlessly combines cutting-edge offline transaction capabilities with a seamless user-friendly interface.

This project is more than a technological advancement; it represents our dedication to providing accessible and secure banking services, even during crisis & scheduled maintenance windows. IBMB Offline, an industry game changer is poised to redefine the future of banking accessibility, and we are enthusiastic about the possibility of showcasing its impact on the industry through the Innovation Excellence Award.

In 2019/20, there has been multiple incidents across main channels that caused interruptions to the availability of Internet & Mobile Banking channels which had disturbance on the customer experience & day-day usage. Supported by our technology leadership & wisdom, a study has been assessed to enhance the Internet & Mobile Banking channels. The IBMB Offline was an idea established by IT & PMO. Post brainstorming & multiple workshops we had taken the decision along with the Business teams to discuss the solution with the implementation partner.

Infosys (our partners) has initially strongly given that such product feature is not available in the market. In addition, there has not been any such requirement given by any previous clients to Infosys Organization. Post multiple technical deliberations, along with the product team the architecture design was demonstrated to be achievable however requires major development, testing, & simulations. Not only did the IBMB offline project cover success to Bank Muscat but also extended the success as a certified product by Infosys which lead the Bank to receive the Best Innovative Partner Award proving that the IBMB Offline has raised the bars & standards of channel availability throughout the technology & innovation sector. The IBMB offline has opened doors for many other applications in the Bank to offer such innovative solution to enhance the system availability throughout, in fact this has become one of the selection criteria for new Banks products.

Project Background:

Currently IB/MB channel connects to Core banking system for all transactions processing. In case of maintenance or planned downtimes of core banking & the middleware (ESB), the IBMB channel availability get impacted. Bank aspired to give service to the customers on Digital channels in such scenarios and devised approach of offline mechanism. In this approach, we are providing limited services to the customers. The transactions in the offline window are handled by Bank’s ATM switch.

IBMB Offline elaborates the scope of integration with the OCH for Conventional IBMB with backend hosts during non-availability of ESB/core banking services. IBMB Offline will offer customers the capability of IBMB Channel availability during Crisis/Planned Downtimes impacted by core banking/ESB services. This capability is offered to Retail Conventional Banking Customers.