Client Background
The client is a leading Islamic bank in Oman serving retail and corporate customers through branches, internet and mobile banking, messaging channels and a contact centre. Facing a younger, mobile-first customer base and the rise of digital banks across the GCC, the bank decided to launch an exclusive digital banking proposition for retail and SME customers. It needed a clear view of its own digital readiness, the regional and global market, and the business model, products, organisation and technology the new venture would require. Cedar was mandated to deliver a digital bank and fintech strategy with a way-forward roadmap.
Cedar’s Approach
Cedar delivered the engagement in three modules over roughly four weeks, combining a current state review, a digital market overview and the digital bank strategy itself, and assessed readiness with its six-area digital readiness framework covering customer experience, sales and onboarding, products, process fulfilment, channel adoption and technology platform and culture.
Current State Review – Through more than 15 meetings with 16 leaders, including the CEO, COO and the heads of strategy, digital, finance, compliance and Shariah audit, Cedar reviewed the existing digital strategy, organisation, architecture, customer journeys, complaints and channel usage, identifying manual data entry and incomplete straight-through processing as critical moments of truth.
Digital Market Overview – Cedar benchmarked global, regional, Islamic and SME digital banks, assessed GCC market readiness and local digital penetration, and ran primary customer surveys that confirmed a strong preference for digital channels and dedicated Islamic offerings, alongside a review of the local fintech landscape and regulation.
Digital Bank Strategy – Cedar evaluated business model options and recommended a fully digital arm with a distinct brand, operating under the bank's existing licence subject to central bank approval. It defined target segments, value propositions and phased minimum viable products for retail and SME customers, including family and community savings accounts, savings vaults and virtual cards, together with retail and SME app designs, an independent digital factory unit with agile squads, a layered target architecture, and cloud hosting options within the country.
Fintech Strategy and Roadmap – Cedar designed a three-stage fintech selection funnel, recommended 11 digital initiatives to run alongside the launch, and set out a phased implementation plan, execution prerequisites and critical success factors.
Strategic Outcome and Way Forward
The bank gained a coherent, Shariah-aware blueprint for its digital-only proposition, linking target customers and products to the organisation, technology and fintech partnerships needed to deliver them, and a phased release plan starting with core retail accounts and cards before extending to financing and SME products.
The agreed next steps centred on customer journey design driven by voice-of-customer input, selection of a UI/UX and branding partner, a digital support centre, a testing centre of excellence, digital process definition, vendor selections for supporting platforms, staff agile training and a governance and programme management office to steer execution, with regulatory and Shariah approvals as key dependencies.