Thawani Pay, Network International Forge Alliance to Boost Oman’s Cashless Shift

Editorial Team

Last updated 19-01-2026

3 min

Thawani Pay and Network International partner to boost Oman’s growing credit card and digital payments market.

Network International will handle card processing, adding “enterprise-grade infrastructure” to Thawani’s Visa rollout.

Thawani Pay’s licences show how aligned regulators and startups can unlock local fintech progress.

The deal supports Oman’s shift towards a “cashless and digitally inclusive economy” under Vision 2040.

Rising card and point-of-sale transactions highlight strong demand for smoother everyday payments.

Thawani Pay and Network International have struck a new partnership that could nudge Oman’s payments scene up a gear, especially when it comes to credit cards and digital transactions. The agreement brings together an Omani fintech with deep local roots and a regional processing heavyweight, at a moment when cashless payments are no longer a “nice to have” but, frankly, expected.

Thawani Pay is already something of a trailblazer at home. It was the first non-bank payment service provider to be licensed by the Central Bank of Oman, and more recently became the first fintech in the country to secure a Visa licence to issue credit cards. That detail matters. For founders across the region who’ve struggled with card issuing being, well… a bit of a faff, it shows what’s possible when regulators and startups are aligned.

Under the partnership, Network International will handle credit card processing for Thawani Pay, giving it the kind of scalable, enterprise-grade infrastructure usually reserved for much bigger players. On the flip side, Network strengthens its processing footprint in Oman, a market that’s quietly gathering pace. The signing was marked at Thawani Pay’s headquarters in Muscat, with the agreement inked by the company’s founder and CEO Eng. Majid Al Amri and Network International’s Navneet Dave, Managing Director and Co-Head of Processing for the Middle East.

Al Amri said the partnership will help Thawani Pay roll out its Visa-backed credit card roadmap with confidence, combining global standards with local market insight to deliver what he described as a secure, app-first card experience. The broader aim, according to him, is to support Oman’s shift towards a more cashless and digitally inclusive economy, in line with the country’s Vision 2040 goals.

Dave, meanwhile, pointed to Network International’s commitment to the Omani market, noting that the deal fits neatly with government ambitions to digitise payments and services. He highlighted the role of fintech in shaping the next phase of the country’s financial landscape, something Network has been keen to back across the region.

The timing looks spot on. Oman’s digital payments market has been expanding steadily, helped by supportive regulation and growing consumer appetite for cashless options. Card and point-of-sale transactions hit nearly 433 million in 2024, with a total value of OMR 6.88 billion. Believe it or not, those numbers still surprise me, especially when I think back to early founder meetups where “card acceptance” was treated as a distant dream.

From where I sit at Arageek, watching startups across MENA wrestle with payments, I reckon this kind of partnership sends a clear signal. Local fintechs don’t have to go it alone; plugging into the right regional infrastructure can speed things up, sometimes dramatically. And while I’m not a fan of overhyping deals, this one feels like more than a press exercise—it’s a practical move that could make everyday payments in Oman smoother, safer, and, dare I say it, a bit more conveneint.

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