Sohar Islamic Enhances Corporate Banking with New Preloaded Card Solution

Sohar Islamic has launched a new Preloaded Card designed to modernize corporate expense management for businesses operating in Oman. For fintech professionals, this represents a significant shift in the Omani market toward digitizing petty cash and government payments through Shari’ah-compliant instruments, reducing the reliance on physical cash in corporate workflows.

What was announced

The new Preloaded Card from Sohar Islamic, the Islamic banking window of Sohar International, is a dedicated tool for corporate clients to manage employee expenses and operational spending. The product serves as a digital alternative to traditional cash-based systems for handling petty cash, travel expenses, and mandatory government payments within the Sultanate. By moving these transactions to a card-based system, businesses can maintain strict adherence to Shari’ah principles while gaining granular control over their capital.

A key feature of the offering is its deep integration with Sohar Islamic’s existing digital banking platform. This connectivity allows finance managers to perform instant fund loading, ensuring that employees have access to capital exactly when needed without the delays of manual bank transfers. The platform provides real-time transaction monitoring, giving treasury departments immediate visibility into spending patterns as they occur. Furthermore, the system empowers administrators to set specific spending limits for individual cardholders, providing a layer of security and budgetary control that is difficult to achieve with cash. The primary goal of the rollout is to eliminate the administrative friction typically found in manual expense processing and the often-lengthy reimbursement cycles that burden both finance teams and employees.

"The new offering aims to provide corporate clients with a secure and efficient alternative to cash for managing employee expenses, petty cash, and government payments."

Sohar Islamic

The companies involved

Sohar Islamic operates as the dedicated Islamic banking window of Sohar International, one of the Sultanate of Oman's prominent financial institutions. Sohar International has established itself as a significant player in the Middle Eastern banking sector, focusing on driving digital evolution across its retail and corporate portfolios. As the Islamic arm, Sohar Islamic provides a comprehensive suite of banking solutions that are fully compliant with Islamic jurisprudence, catering to a growing demographic of retail and corporate clients who require Shari’ah-consistent financial products.

The parent organization, Sohar International, has been aggressive in its pursuit of market share in Oman, frequently updating its technological infrastructure to compete with both local incumbents and regional digital challengers. By leveraging the regulatory framework of the parent bank, Sohar Islamic is able to deploy sophisticated digital tools - like the new Preloaded Card - that mirror the functionality of conventional fintech products while maintaining the ethical and religious standards required by its core customer base. This dual-track approach allows the group to capture diverse segments of the Omani economy, from large-scale government contractors to small and medium enterprises seeking modern treasury tools.

What FF News has reported before

FF News has previously tracked the digital transformation efforts of both the parent company and its Islamic window. In August 2026, we covered how Sohar International Unveils Rebranded Card Portfolio to Drive Digital Banking Evolution, a move that signaled the bank's intent to dominate the domestic payment space. Additionally, the bank's international and social investment strategy was highlighted when Sohar Islamic and Yayasan Waqaf Malaysia Partner to Transform Global Awqaf Investment, demonstrating a commitment to cross-border Islamic finance innovation.

What this means

This move places significant pressure on traditional banks in Oman that still rely on paper-based petty cash systems. By integrating expense management directly into the digital banking portal, Sohar Islamic is moving beyond simple "banking" and into the "software-as-a-service" territory typically occupied by expense management fintechs. This is a defensive and offensive play; it protects their corporate accounts from being poached by agile startups while providing a clear path for Omani businesses to digitize their back-office operations. Watch for whether competitors respond with similar Shari’ah-compliant corporate cards or if they cede the "petty cash" segment entirely to Sohar.