1. 1
Internship Report
INFS4485
Bank Muscat
Submitted By
Zainab Ali Tarish AlBahrani
101807
Summer 2015
13/9/2015
Sultan Qaboos University
College of Economics & Political Science
Department of Information Systems
2. 2
Acknowledgement
I would like to thank Bank Muscat at all especially Badriya AlMoqbali, Employees Supervisor the one
who taught me everything at the Bank from simple tasks to difficult tasks and how can I deal with them
with following duties, attitudes and values. Also, I like to thank Fatma AlKumashki, Branch Manager for
giving me a chance to train in the branch. Furthermore, I like to thank all employees who helped me to
finish summer internship successfully, supported and encouraged me during that period, and welcome me
to work with them in the future.
3. 3
Executive summary
In this report, I will view my experience in taking summer internship with Bank Muscat. I will write
firstly about banking sector in more details. Then, I will write about Bank Muscat history, business size,
products line and its departments. After that, I will introduce some information about corporate banking
where I took internship including, departments, duration of training and viewing training program in more
details by explaining duties and responsibilities. Next, I will talk about knowledge, skills, career abilities,
attitudes and values that I gained and learned from the bank. Finally, I will view about a problem that
happened at bank what are the reasons behind it and solutions for solving it based on the program of
study.
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Table of contents
A brief introduction of the organization’s business sector…………………………………….... 5
Overview of the organization……………………………………………………………………..7
a. Brief history……………………………………………………………………………... 7
b. Business size…………………………………………………………………………….. 8
c. Product lines……………………………………………………………………………...9
d. Competitors………………………………………………………………………………10
e. Brief summary of all the departments……………………………………………………10
Plan of your internship program…………………………………………………………………..11
Training program………………………………………………………………………………….12
Learning Experiences…………………………………………………………………………….. 16
a. Knowledge acquired……………………………………………………...............................16
b. Skilled learned……………………….……………………………………………………...16
c. Observed attitudes and gained values……………………………………………………….17
d. The most challenging task performed………………………………………………………17
Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, Threats (SWOT) Analysis…………………………….........18
Problem Identification and Solution……………………………………………………………...23
Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………..27
References and Sources Used…………………………………………………………………….28
Appendices………………………………………………………………………………….........29
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A brief introduction of the organization’s business sector
Banking sector is the structural network of institutions that offer financial services within a country. It is a
financial tool that makes credit by lending money to a borrower. Consequently, that will create a
corresponding deposit on the bank's balance sheet. The money supply is increased by the act of lending
and reduced when loans are repaid faster than new ones are generated. Moreover, the bank makes credit
by issuing debt securities such as banknotes and bonds. This activity can be fulfilled either directly or
indirectly through financial markets and affected on national economies. On the other hand, under the
Basel Accords-International Capital Standards- every bank must hold liquid assets and a portion of their
current liabilities. Also, banks are generally subject to minimum capital requirement (Mubasher
International Company, 2015).
According to Business Dictionary (n.d.), banking sector has many activities, including:
Retail banking, saving accounts, consumer loans, credit cards...etc, and other such services
provided to individuals. Also called consumer banking.
Wholesale banking, banking services which are offered only to government agencies, annuity
funds, and other institutional customers and to corporations with strong balance sheets and
income statements. These services include cash management and equipment leasing, large-sum
loans, loan participation, services and merchant banking.
Corporate banking (Commercial Banking), financing (often unsecured), cash management and
other banking with specific characteristics for corporations.
Private banking, which provides fund management services to high-net-worth individuals and
families.
Investment banking (called Merchant Bank in the UK) is a financial organization that provides
large amount of long-term fixed capital, originally for established companies. It is normally take
an equity stake from the borrower firm to exercise some authorities on its direction and
operations. Investment banking also works as financial intermediaries by underwriting the sale of
new securities as in Muscat Securities Market (MSM). Also, this kind of bank gives notices and
suggestions to corporations on capital market activities such as mergers and acquisitions.
Offshore Banking Unit (OBU), Branch of a foreign bank located in an offshore financial center
(OFC). The bank may take deposits from other foreign banks and OBUs and make Eurocurrency
loans, but on the other hand, it may not take deposits from (or make loans to) the residents of the
country in which it is located. OBUs are unrestricted in their legal activities, and are free from
the fiscal controls of the country of location.
Saving banks: This kind of banking has kept their focus on retail banking, payments, saving
products, credits and insurances for individuals or Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
Islamic Banking, which must adhere to the concept of Islamic Law. It avoids interests and any
things forbidden in Islam.
Credit Union or Cooperative Banking: Financial cooperative established for and by its members
including, borrowers, depositors and shareholders. Credit Union is a type of mutual association.
It offers many banking services, such as consumer and commercial loans, time deposits loans,
credit cards and guarantee. Credit Union usually taxed at rates lower than those applied to
corporate banks and other financial institutions. Credit Union members often have a common-
bond, such as employment in the same company or domicile in the same community..
Community banking: is a commercial bank, owned and operated by the local working
community. These institutions don’t have a public presence and can only be found in certain
area. Community banks operate as an independent institution and do not belong with large bank
chains.
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Nowadays, there is a huge reduction to the barriers of global competition in the banking sector because of
increasing in telecommunications and other financial technologies for example, Bloomberg which
allowed banks to reach to their customers anywhere without needing to be near of them to give the
services they wanted whether in finance or risk.
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Overview of the organization
a. Brief history
With assets worth over US$20 billion, Bank Muscat is the principal financial services provider in the
Sultanate of Oman with a strong holding in retail banking, corporate banking, private banking,
investment banking, asset management and treasury by offering a wide range of finance products
ranging from traditional Working Capital finance to project finance. (Mubasher International
Company , 2015).The bank's clients include multinational and domestic companies connected in
activities across all sectors such as contracting, power, water, trading, oil & gas, telecommunications,
airports, ports, shipping, real estate, gas & petrochemicals and international trading. According to
Bank Muscat (n.d.),Bank Muscat was founded by Khalid bin Mustahil bin Ahmed AlMa'shani on 6th
July, 1982 in Muscat especially in Commercial Road in Ruwi Today, Bank Muscat had the largest
network in Oman exceeding 138 branches, 430 Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), 1163 Cash
Deposit Machines (CDMs) and 9000 Point of Sale Devices (PoS terminals) (SQUStudents2014,
2014). Globally, Bank Muscat has a branch in Al Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Dubai and
Singapore.
According to Mubasher International Company (2015), Bank Muscat holds the rare discrimination of
being best bank in Oman for long time and it was being awarded first place in the Capital Market
Authority (CMA) Corporate Governance Excellence Award in the financial sector for the year 2011.
Also, the bank owns the overall CMA award which included participation from listed companies
across financial, industrial and services sectors. In addition, "Bank Muscat is the recipient of the
Prestigious Hewitt Recognition as the Middle East's Best Employer in 2009. Also, in 2012 and 2013
Bank Muscat becomes the first banking organization in the MENA region for Corporate Governance
Excellence by the Hawkamah Institute and second prize in 2010".(Bank Muscat, 2014). Also,
according to SQUStudents2014 (2014), Bank Muscat is the first bank in MENA region to be
completely ISO9000:2000 certified.
Bank Mission
"Leadership means challenging everything we do. Consequently, To listen, To improve and To look
for positive change, because only through questioning convention can we truly deliver sustainable
value. Be part of bank's vision. Find ways everyday to do more and together let's become on
organization that does more" (Bank Muscat, 2015).
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b. Business size
Bank Muscat is related to public sector because the highest stake is for the government, exactly to
Royal Court Affairs. It has 23.58%. On the other hand, the other stakes belong to Dubai Financial
Group LLC (12.33%), Ministry of Defence Pension Fund (6.48%), Civil Services Pension Fund
(4.19%), Muscat Overseas Group (4.03%), IFC (5.21%) and Others (44.1%)(Bank Muscat, 2012).
However, Bank Muscat has 97% stake in Muscat Capital LLC, which is a brokerage and investment
banking entity in Saudi Arabia, Bank Muscat, beside a stake in Silkbank Ltd. In Pakistan and 49% in
BMI Bank B.S.C, this is an independent bank in Bahrain. Also, Bank Muscat has a 43% stake in
Mangal Keshav Group, one of the oldest and most respected Securities Markets in the fast-growing
Indian equities market. Bank Muscat has a workforce of around 3024 employees (Mubasher
International Company, 2015).
The Table1 below shows additional information of Bank Muscat business size (Argaam Business
Information, n.d.).
Table1
According to Argaam Business Information.(n.d.), Bank Muscat every yeas attained increasing in
Total shareholders' equity, Average number of shares and Book Value as shown below in Table2.
Table2
This Table3 shows the bank performance at last fiscal year (Dec31). (Argaam Business Information,
n.d.).
Table3
Trading Data
Trading Place Muscat
Fiscal Year ending December
Shares available for trading 916.950 million
Average trading volume for the last 3 months 925046.0
Average number of transactions for the last 3
months
46.0
The proportion of foreign ownership 49.0%
Financial Performance
2011 2012 2013 2014
Total
shareholders'
equity
870.350 1072430 1212.080 1312.070
Average number
of shares
1869.210 2140.430 2259.870 2291.820
Book Value 0.466 RO 0.501 RO 0.536 RO 0573 RO
Fiscal Year (last fiscal period)
The number of shares (million) 2291.82
Nominal Value 0.100
Book Value 0.57
Market Value 1178.0
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According to (Market Cap, 2015), the last table (Table4) was announced in last fiscal period (Dec
31) that shows Bank Muscat Revenue, Net Income and Total Assets .
Table4
c. Product lines
Credit Card: it is a convenient substitute for cash or cheque, and an essential component of
electronic commerce and internet commerce. Also, there is a credit card only for companies
Debit Card: Bank Card used in cash transaction. The amount is withdrawn from the balance.
Revenue US$ 961.0 Million
Net Income US$ 305.3 Million
Total Assets US$ 18.7 Billion
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Prepaid Card: it is same as a credit card with a pre-deposition balance. It is used to control the
spending
Electronic Portfolio: it is a prepaid payment to get bank account in an easy way. It a secret tool
for all financial transaction like deposition or purchasing or Financial Transferring.
d. Competitors
There are competitors for Bank Muscat in Oman for example Al-Ahli Bank, Oman Arab Bank,
National Bank of Oman, Bank Nizwa, Bank Dhofar and Oman International Bank. Moreover,
the bank has competitors outside Oman because every year there is a competition to own awards
for the best bank and ISO awards in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
e. Brief summary of all the departments
In general Muscat Bank has a multi department including, Accounts and Deposits Department,
Loans and Mortgages Department, Insurances Department, Card Services Department, Banking
Channels Department, Money Transfer and Remittance Department, Payment Facilities
Department and Priority Banking Department (Mubasher International Company, 2015).
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Plan of your internship program
I took training at Bank Muscat especially in corporate banking. Corporate banking or commercial banking
as some people called is a dealing with large business entities. It provides financing (often unsecured),
cash management and other banking services.
Training Program started at 21/6/2015 and finished at 13/8/2015. Throughout the training I was only in
Banking Services Department which is responsible to make remittances and travel cheques between Bank
Muscat to others like Al-Ahli Bank, Oman Arab Bank, National Bank of Oman, Bank Nizwa, Bank
Dhofar, Oman International Bank and other banks outside Oman. Moreover, the department specializes in
transferring salaries and overtime to companies' employees' ant to deposit cheques of Bank Muscat and
other banks. Also, the bank does printing out statements for customers who need it for Chamber of
Commerce and Industry, Finance Companies, Supply Companies, Pension Funds, Ministry of Manpower,
Ministry of Civil Service and others. In addition, Banking Services Department responsible to open new
bank account for companies which are in First Class and Excellence Class, and active the accounts when
they are in dormant. Finally, this department provides additional services to customers who want services
such as Cheques Book (for individual and corporate), Online Banking, Mobile Banking and ATM card
(new one or replacement). However, there are other two departments in the branch which are Depositions
and Cash Department and Financing and Marketing Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), but I didn’t
get a chance to take training there because it is forbidden for training to do any transaction there and it's
difficult too. It requires long experiences and high accurate.
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Training program
I started a summer internship on 21/6/2015 in Bank Muscat, especially in Corporate Branch in Sohar in
Al Tareef. Firstly, I started the training in Ramadhan, so the work started at 9:00 o'clock am and finished
at 1:00 o'clock pm. However, after Ramadhan the wok started at 8:00 o'clock am and finished at 2:00
o'clock pm. The work in the Corporate Branch is different from the Retail Banking Branch which started
at 9:00 o'clock am and finished at 2:00 o'clock pm in Ramadhan and started at 8:00 o'clock am and
finished at 5:00 pm o'clock in the normal days. In the first day, the Branch Manager, Fatma Alkumashki,
asked me to sign on pledge including, don’t deal more with customers, don’t disclosure of bank secret,
don’t work in Deposition and Cash Department, don’t go to Bank Treasury and don’t do any job without
telling the supervisor. Moreover, the bank obligates me to sign every day when I arrive the organization
and write the arrival time. This attendance is very important to give me a certification in commitment at
work. The certificate will be issued from Training Department from the main branch in Muscat. In the
first two days, there was a program to show me the workplace and its departments. The branch consists
from three departments which are Deposition and Cash Department, Financing and Marketing Small and
Medium Enterprises (SMEs), and Banker Services. Also, among the program I identified the employees
from high-level employees to low-level employees. Furthermore, the supervisor, Badriya AlMoqbali,
Employees Supervisor who responsible to train me, gave me the principles and laws of working at the
bank in despite of pledges the Branch Manager gave me. The principles and laws was don’t receive any
paper from customers without permission from her and if receive any papers, I should stamp by myself,
don’t give any one to stamp for me because if any problems will happen, the customers will remember the
one who make stamp and that one may be doesn’t have any idea about the issue, so that will create a big
problem for the employee and the branch at all. It's same as for signature, but as a trainee I don’t have a
power to sign. She told me about how to deal with customers in a good way and what I should I do if any
problems happen. Then, after two days from identification the workplace and its policies, I started my
tasks in the third day. My tasks were limited in access to customers' accounts and print out the balance
sheet statement to them by using iShare System. However, I should firstly take customer ID card and
Bank Muscat card. When, the statement will be printed, I asked the customers if he/she wants the bank
stamp or not because this statement will go for some official organization such, so they will not accept the
statement without the bank stamp such as Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Finance Companies.
Supply Companies, Pension Funds, Ministry of Manpower and Ministry of Civil Service. Also, the
statement will view the statement, it doesn’t view full customer name, and it views only the first and
second name. However, some of those organizations need the full name including, first and second name,
and family name. So, my responsible to write the full name of the customers and make stamp near the
name to exclude the customer from any forgery. In addition, the bank gave me the task of sending telex or
Telegraphic Transfer (TT) as some people called, which is a large method of transferring funds. This
method is used in the bank to send papers of remittances to the main branch in Muscat because the
remittances is goes for other banks, not for Bank Muscat accounts for example, Al-Ahli Bank, Oman
Arab Bank, National Bank of Oman, Bank Nizwa, Bank Dhofar, Oman International Bank and other
banks outside Oman. So, the process is a complicated and takes time may be two days and also it needs
approving from the Money Transfer and Remittance Department because that a big department check all
data and ensure if it's true or not such as beneficiary name and his/her bank account, his/her branch name
in that bank IBAN and Swift Codes and other payment details. IBAN (International Bank Account
Number) code is a globally agreed system approved by International Standardization Organization (ISO)
in order to identify an individual bank account across national borders. On the other hand, SWIFT
(Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) code is a code for identifying a specific
bank among international transaction. However, both of them are using to facilitate the communication
and processing of the transactions between the international borders in spite of reducing risk of
transcription errors (Investopedia, n.d.). My task was receiving the papers from the customers and put a
received stamp which shows branch name and the date on the original paper and the copy papers that
related to the customer because if any problem happen, the customers have the paper with the received
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stamp that show the date as mentioned before. Then, I stick the (OTH) barcode which represents the
commercial transaction number. Sticking barcode is very useful and it is an easy way to find if the
transaction finished or not by entering the barcode number in iShare System. The bank finds the barcode
number by returning to the daily voucher that is done at the end of each day. Therefore, by this process
the bank will know the problem and its reasons such as there is no money in the account, no manger
signature, no stamp, mistakes in data and so on. Finally, I checked the details of remittances again to
ensure that all things okay without any problems and mistakes. Actually, I faced some mistakes
sometimes such as the differences between writing Amount Transfer in numbers and letters (e.g. Amount
Transfer in numbers: USD 100,000 and Amount Transfer in letters: Ten Thousands Dollar). Also, maybe
there is a mistake in the differences between writing currency in amount and writing currency in the field
of Currency of Remittance (e.g. on day xyz Company wrote in the field EUR and in the amount it wrote
USD). So, to solve that problem, I should call the company and tell them about the mistake because the
main branch will not accept the remittances. Therefore, the company should adjust the mistake in two
ways. Firstly, rewrite another paper, Secondly, by adjusting the mistake in the wrong paper with signing
the company's manager near the modifying. After checking everything, I used OmniScan System
especially the option of Remittances (R) to scan the paper and copy of customer ID card by machine and
filling the fields of remittances which are Currency Type (Local or Foreign currency), Amount Transfer,
Currency, Customer ID number and company's account number. Finally, I press on the icon of sending
and exporting all data to reach to all employees in the Money Transfer and Remittance Department at the
main branch. Moreover, at the bank I was responsible to transfer money from one Bank Muscat account
to other Bank Muscat account. This process is direct. It called Internal Transfer. Firstly, I fill the form of
the money transfer which includes, Debit Account, Credit Account, Amounts Transfer in number and
letter, Currency, Branch Name and Date of Transfer. This form can be used to transfer to multi accounts,
not only for one account. After filling all that data, I asked the customer to sign on the form. It should be
the bank signature that is registered in the system. So, it is very important to check customer's signature in
iShare System. Then, I make a copy of the customer ID card if the Amount Transfer exceeds 5000 OMR
because it needs an authorization from Branch Manager. Also, if the Amount Transfer from company's
bank account to personal account, it is very important to put the company's stamp on the form in order to
avoid any fraud. After that, I make the received stamp on the form to take the original form and the one
copy for customers. In the fact, this process is a difficult berceuse it needs high accurate when data in
iShare System, especially Amount Transfer. Also, there was another task that the bank gave me which
was making a posted stamp to all papers at the end of the day whether the papers was remittances,
salaries, overtime, cheques and internal transfer. After posting, I printed out the daily report from the
portal and submit it to the supervisor in order to make Bank Daily Voucher because it's very important
when some problems happen at the bank, they can return to the vouchers, such as when the remittance or
cheque didn’t deposit on the customer's account, the employees return to the voucher to get barcode or the
forms to ensure that the paper entered to the bank. The Bank Daily Voucher consist form all papers that
entered the bank and reports from each employee which explains their works at the end of the day. The
voucher is sorted in a special order which is Accountant #1, Accountant #2, Accountant #3, Accountant
#4, Employee#1, Employee#2, Employee#3, Employee#4 and Employee#5 respectively. Then, after the
Bank Daily Voucher finished, the Branch Manager check all papers and reports in the voucher and sign
on because every two months editors from the main branch in Muscat to check the Bank Daily Vouchers
and employees performance to give the employees bounces and evaluate the branches at all at the end of
the fiscal year (31 December) the bank. Also, I helped the companies who want services such as Cheque
Book (Individual OR Corporate), Online Banking, Mobile Banking and ATM Card (New OR
Replacement) by filling Additional Services Form and copy of customer's ID card. Then, sending the
form to the main branch in Muscat for authorization from the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). This
process only applies to the companies who have bank account in Bank Muscat. However, if any other
customers (individuals) want that, they can go to the retail banking because this is a corporate banking
(commercial banking), it means it just for the companies. This is all tasks that I did at Bank Muscat,
Corporate Branch some of that tasks were daily and others weekly. Actually, it depends on the customers
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and their transactions. However, I worked with the supervisor as assistance in sending salaries or
overtime at the end of the month to the main branch in Muscat to deposit in customer's account. Overtime
is bonus for the employees who worked hard during the years such as in Ramadhan, Eid Al-fatter, Eid Al-
Adha. It gave to them usually at the end of the year (Dec 31).The process is making scan of company's
Salaries or Overtime Message by a professional printer. Then, writing business messages to Salaries
Department including, welcome sentences, Name of the company, company's account number and total
amount of the salaries or overtime. Finally, I ended the message with thanking sentences with supporting
the message by scanned page of the company's Salaries or Overtime Message and Excel file of the salary
or overtime which consists from name of the employee, bank account and his/her salary or overtime. In
addition, sometimes I helped the employees in filling Cheque Deposition Form which includes, Branch
Name, Date of the Deposition, Customer Name, Customer Bank Account, Amount Deposit in number
and letter, Cheque Number (From the cheque itself), Total Number of cheques and Customer Bank
Signature that is registered in the system. So, it is very important to check customer's signature in iShare
System. Then, I take the original form and I gave the customer the copy one. Also, sometimes the
manager asked me to calculate Amount Transfer by division the amount in Omani Rial over rate of
currency. The rates of currency are updated every day by Muscat Securities Market (MSM). This process
is used to make remittances outside Oman. This process is same as what I studied in Principles of Finance
(FINA3311), Microeconomics (ECON1211) and Macroeconomics (ECON2221) course at the College of
Economics and Political Sciences (CEPS). Moreover, sometimes the supervisors and other employees
asked me to help then in arranging the money in ring. The ring is collecting each 10 Rials of 100baize
together. After that, collect all 10 rings together to make which it called bundles. Finally, the employees
arrange all bundles in the treasury. The treasury consists from two parts: bank money that the employees
deposited in their account and the other one is a locker. Locker is like a box that the customers use it to
deposit whatever want in spite of paying a commission to the bank during the period of usage. You can
put in the lockers any things you want such as gold, silver, diamond, CDs, your researches and so on.
Each locker has two keys, one for the bank and other for the customer. The bank does that to give a
guarantee to the customers that the bank will not take any things from his/her locker. Furthermore, I
learned how to deposit Demand Draft (DD) which is a cheque. The bank issues a demand draft to a client
(drawer), directing another bank (drawee) or one of its own branches to pay a certain sum to the specified
party (payee). Demand Draft are difficult to countermand because it can only be made payable to the
bearer. In addition, I the supervisors asked me some times to send all official papers that needed to open
new bank account for the companies which are in First Class and Excellence Class, to the main branch in
Muscat. The process of opening a new bank account for the companies by giving customers' the form and
ask them to bring all formal papers including Affiliation Certificate, Commercial Registration Certificate,
Signature Model, copy of ID card or passport and Request letter of Opening Commercial Account. Then,
sticking Barcode on the form to send it by telex to get authorization from Opening Accounts Manager at
the main branch in Muscat. The process will be a little tough because it is for corporate not personal. On
the other hand, I did a process or activation the companies bank accounts when they are in dormant. The
process is done by filling Account Activation Request Form and one copy of customer's ID card. Also,
one day the supervisor asked me to do a new task and it is one of the most important thing which is giving
right to heirs to receipt deceased's salary by sending all formal papers to legal department at the main
branch in Muscat then scientists in religion decide give them or not. Moreover, one day I helped the
customers in writing business messages about Remittance, salaries, open account and authorization for
commissaries to do all their company transactions by giving them the structure of the messages and some
samples from what other companies do. Also, I helped the customers who have some problems by
checking customers account to give them reasons behind some problems they faced to get solutions for
example why cheques not deposit, why they don’t receive message on their phone after some transaction,
why salary doesn’t deposit on his/her account,…etc. At the end of the day I should sign on the paper of
attendances with writing time of leaving the bank. The bank reminded me to something very important
which is when I want to enter or leave the bank; I should go from the back entrance because it is not good
for the employees to enter or leave from the main entrance and in front of the customers. This considers
15. 15
from values and work ethics to keep the bank reputation in an excellence image. I did that every day until
13/8/2015 which was the last day of the internship. I received the certification which was issued from
Training Department from the main branch in Muscat. Also, I received Employer Evaluation. And I asked
the Branch Manager to sign and stamp on the Internship Weekly Log. That was all tasks that I did it in the
Bank Muscat. Actually, it was a good experiment in my life. It gave me a lot of experiences and may be
that will help me to find a good job in the future.
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Learning Experiences
a. Knowledge acquired:
I gained a lot of knowledge and experiences through training period some of that knowledge related to
what I studied at College of Economics and Political Sciences and some of them not related to what I was
studying. From training period that started at 21/6/2015 until 13/8/2015, I gained much knowledge such
as Debit and Credit Calculations same as what we studied in Financial and Managerial Accounting
courses (ACCT1112 and ACCT2121 respectively). Debit means an entry in double entry bookkeeping on
the left-hand side of an account record. It has the effect of decreasing a capital, liability or revenue
account, or of increasing an asset or expense account. On the other hand, Credit means an entry on the
right-hand side of an account record in double entry bookkeeping. It has the effect of increasing a capital,
liability or revenue account, or of decreasing an asset or expense account. Also, studying 2 courses in
accounting helped to explain balance sheet for customers who need a help to know cash flow on their
bank account. Moreover, I gained knowledge from what I studied in Principles of Finance (FINA3311),
Microeconomics(ECON1211) and Macroeconomics(ECON2221) course, especially how to calculate
Amount Transfer by division the amount in Omani rial over rate of currency. The rates of currency are
updated every day by Muscat Securities Market (MSM). This process is used to make remittances outside
Oman. In addition, Principles of Management (MNGT1515) helped me to know the structure of any
organization from Board of Directors, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and other directors in high-level
until low-level employees. Also, MNGT1515 helped me in making decision about any problems
happened in the organization such as when some companies bring their papers of remittances and there
are some mistakes there like the difference between writing Amount Transfer in numbers and in letters.
On the other hand, Introduction to Management Information Systems (INFS2412) helped me to use and
manage Bank Muscat Databases in a good way by knowing the way the database working on and how to
use Microsoft Excel 2013 and its function for example, addition, deduction, multiplication and division.
Also, Systems Analysis and Design (INFS3415) helped me to know the standards of professional system
and how to create solutions and alternatives for any mistakes that happened. Finally, studying Business
Communication (BCOM2911) and Technical Writing for Business (BCOM4931) was very useful in
writing and understanding business messages such as Salaries and Overtime Transfer Messages,
Remittances Messages, Open New Corporate Account Messages, Authorization Messages for delegates to
get balance sheet for their companies, and sending messages to the main branch in Muscat to get
approving for those customers who need special (best) rate in remittances.
b. Skills learned
During the internship many of my skills developed in speaking customers especially for business people
-as mentioned before it was corporate branch- whether in Arabic on English. Actually, that will help me
next semester when I will take Public Speaking (BCOM3921) course which is required perfect English
and controlling body languages and facial expression. Moreover, my skills in writing developed too in
how to write business messages for Manager of Money Transfer and Remittance at the main branch in
Muscat to get approving for customers who want special (best) rate in remittances and for those who want
approving to receipt deceased's salary. Furthermore, my skills in reading and analyzing balance sheet
developed because I see balance sheet in reality and I understand more than when it coming as calculation
questions. Also, I gained career abilities in entering numbers and data in more accurate and fast way.
Also, during internship I knew that working at bank not easy, it needs patience, taking responsibilities and
wok pressure, and dealing with customers especially with those who don’t have enough background about
the bank, so the employees should ask them more questions to know what they want exactly. Moreover,
you shouldn’t delay any work for next days because it will be so difficult for you and for customers who
17. 17
want to finish their working as soon as possible and that may be will create problems between the bank
and customers.
c. Observed attitudes and gained values:
Working at bank is one of the most difficult employments because it needs high accurate, honesty and
truthfulness, responsibilities and repaid deposition to solve any mistakes. Also, you should keep your
username and password in security to avoid falling in any problems. Moreover, when you receive any
papers you should make your stamp and signature by yourself, not tells anybody to make it for you
because when any problems will happen, the one who sign and put the stamp is responsible for that
problem.
d. The most challenging task performed
There are many challenged tasks I faced through the internship at Bank Muscat such as dealing with
nervous and conceited customers, Also, when there are some mistakes in papers of remittances like the
differences between writing Amount Transfer in numbers and letters or the differences between writing
currency in amount and writing currency in the field of Currency of Remittance (e.g. on day xyz company
wrote in the field EUR and in the amount it wrote USD). So, I should call the company to know what the
right one is and ask them to rewrite the remittance message again because the main branch will not accept
it. Also, when there are two remittances for one company with same amount transfer and same references
to it needs modifying because the reference should be in different numbers to avoid duplication
deposition in the company's bank account.
18. 18
Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, Threats (SWOT) Analysis
Strength:
Bank Muscat has over than 138 branches, 430ATMs, 1163CDMs and 9000 PoS terminals
(SQUStudents2014, 2014). So, that will decrease effort to go to the main branch to finish transaction and
so on. It has the largest number of customers exceeds one million. Furthermore, the bank owned many
domestic and international awards as mentioned before, so the bank deserved to be best bank in Oman. It
is the first bank in MENA region to certified ISO 9000:2000. Also, the bank has shares in many
organizations, globally and locally. You can see many foreign investors are dealing with the bank for
transaction and buying shares, especially from GCC region (BrandGuide, n.d.). Moreover, the bank has a
wide range of financial products and services according to customer needs and exceeds the requirements
of the customers. The bank has a proximately all kinds of banking activities such as Retail Banking,
Corporate Banking, Investment Banking, Private Banking…etc. Also, the bank has a workforce of around
3024 employees (Mubasher International Company, 2015). It has a nice and comfortable workplace for its
employees to be more efficient and for customers too. On the other hand, the bank is an active
organization at social media. It has an account in Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. In addition, Bank
Muscat has a service for Indian workforce which is Speed Transfer to India because of a huge number of
Indian people in Oman. Actually, that will help the bank to gain profit. Also, Bank Muscat has an easy
and fast phone application to help customers to finish transactions in short time without needing to go to
branches. You can find it in Google Play and App Store. The application supports two languages, Arabic
and English. Also, the application is so secret to keep the customers privacy.
Here are some screenshots and additional characteristics for the Bank Muscat Application…
Bank Muscat Application gives you a chance to pay a bill of Electricity, School Fee, Water, Internet,
Credit Cards, TopUp, Telephone, Mobile and Amex Card. Moreover, you can transfer money from Bank
Muscat account to another Bank Muscat or for other Banks by the application with many characteristics
in this option. In addition, the application applies a specialty of is Speed Transfer to India because of a
huge number of Indian people in Oman.
20. 20
Furthermore, you can get balance sheet statement from the application and daily exchange rate as shown
below…
21. 21
Also, from the application you can request cheques books, Change MOIN, Block Debit Card, Create
Term Deposit, Rollover of Term Deposit and Apply for Bank Muscat Products. Moreover, if you faced
any problems or you want promotion, you contact with the bank by the application too.
Weaknesses:
Bank Muscat has a weak presence outside Oman, which will create some difficulties for those who need
money and they're outside Oman. Also, Bank Muscat operations are dependent only on the economy of
Oman which can be risky (BrandGuide, n.d.).Moreover, Bank Muscat Application has some negative
points which are you should change the application password every two months and you can't use the
previous password again. Also, when you close the program you can't access again until 5 minutes later.
Moreover, you should choose the names, username and passwords in English language only whether the
application language in Arabic and English. Therefore, that will create a problem for those who don’t
know English especially old people.
Opportunities:
Bank Muscat is growing in Islamic banking market as we can see Methaq Banking. Also, the bank should
start expanding in many countries where Omani people are concentrated such as UK, Thailand and so on
and establishing and maintaining a quality management system in the bank, based on international quality
standards (SQUStudents2014, 2014).
22. 22
Threats:
Instability and continuously changing in global economy will affect bank because of shares that the bank
has outside Oman and increasing costs of running the business from salaries and others will affect the
bank negatively too. Also, when international rules and regulations when it changes, Bank Muscat will be
affected in the stability and its regulations. Moreover, political conditions in the countries which have
branches of Bank Muscat will affect the bank and may be will be closed as happened in Bahrain in 2011
(Argaam Business Information, n.d). Finally, there are competitors for Bank Muscat in Oman for example
Al-Ahli Bank, Oman Arab Bank, National Bank of Oman, Bank Nizwa, Bank Dhofar and Oman
International Bank. Moreover, the bank has competitors outside Oman because every yeas there is a
competition to own awards for the best bank and ISO awards in Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
region.
23. 23
Problem Identification and Solution
During the summer internship in Bank Muscat exactly in the corporate banking in Sohar, Al Tareef, I
knew how the work is a hard and has a lot of challenged tasks especially in the banks because they are
dealing directly with the customers' whether they are Omani or foreign, and with their money. Some
of these problems at the banks are strategic problems and others are operational problems. Strategic
problems are those basic policy choices or critical challenges suited in order to achieve the
organization mission and vision (Thomas, n.d.). On the other hand, the operational problems are
issues occur when something is done. However, most of those problems are operational problems
because the bank deals with customers' accounts, transfer money, cheques deposition, and open new
account and so on. While the summer internship in Bank Muscat, I saw many problems. Also, my
supervisors told me some of those issues and others I got them from the customers themselves, they told
me. The problems are low numbers of the employees in some branches, so that needs increasing the
numbers of the employees there in order to do the work in accurate way, no in fast way. Also, some of the
employees don’t have enough experiences about the employment at the bank and its policies and
regulations. Therefore, the bank should apply a program to the new employees covers at least two weeks
because as you know the bank has many sections including, retail banking, corporate banking, private
banking, investment banking, asset management and treasury. So, I think it is difficult for the new
employees to explore all those sections in short period. Consequently, you can see some of the employees
have a scare to do some transactions especially in Cash and Deposition Department. If the employee gets
enough experience and trust to do the job, he/she will do it directly without any scares. Moreover, some
employees don’t have a skill to deal with the customers. The employee responsible to serve and taught the
customers who have enough background about the bank and its transactions. Also, the employees must
have a patience and responsibility while dealing with the customers. So, the employees should know what
the customers need by asking them more questions. In addition, some employees hide some information.
They don’t tell the customers all things, so that may will create a problem for the customers exactly in
remittances, money transfer and loans. Therefore, I think the customers should make a complaint to the
branch manager or to the Chief Operating Officer (COO) in the main branch. I think that will be a nice
idea, every employee will obligate. Furthermore, there are a lot of foreign employees and they have high-
level position at the bank. In the branch that I was took the training, there are two Indian employees. It is
a big problem. I think it's better to give that employments and positions to the Omani citizens because
that is considered one of the Omani citizen right in giving employment and providing the
comfortable life to them. This is called Omanisation. On the other hand, there are problems related to
the bank system and the network. In a fact, Bank Muscat has a weak network and a slow system. I got this
idea from using the system by myself and from employees and customers too. Consequently that will
affect the work and will delay performance some transactions. Therefore, some employees lost or will
lose their trust in the bank and may be they will change the bank and go to other banks. In my opinion, I
think it is better to the bank to change the company who provides the network to the bank which is
Omantel Company and go to other telecommunication companies may be it will be better than Omantel
Company. In the other hand, changing the bank system will be better to facilitate and accelerate the work
on the transactions. However, purchasing a new system will cost the bank a lot. In a fact, the current
system (iShare System) was cost the bank 10 million Rials as the supervisor told me. Moreover, there are
some faults in the Bank Muscat Application as mentioned before including, you should change the
application password every two months and you can't use the previous password again. Also, when you
close the program you can't access again until 5 minutes later. Moreover, you should choose the names,
username and passwords in English language only whether the application language in Arabic and
English. Therefore, that will create a problem for those who don’t know English especially old people.
24. 24
In addition, there is a problem in performing the transactions like remittances, cheques and salaries
specifically when the transaction from Bank Muscat to other banks such as example Al-Ahli Bank, Oman
Arab Bank, National Bank of Oman, Bank Nizwa, Bank Dhofar and Oman International Bank. Moreover,
the bank has competitors outside Oman. This problem is caused by the employees and managers
themselves whether from Bank Muscat or other banks. This process sometimes needs the Oman Central
Bank to finish. This problem you can find it in Bank Muscat and other banks. So, in my opinion, if all
banks whether in Oman or outside Oman make a contract and agreement may that will be helpful for
them and for the customers too as The European Banking Federation is. The European Banking
Federation is a perfect banking federation to attain financial stability and economy development in EURO
region. The federation is responsible to solve the problems of unsurpassed banks that have many
liabilities and decrease taxes cost. This federation has a complementary role of the European Central
Bank (Suleiman, 2014). Also, if any customers suffer from that problem, they can make a complaint to
the branch manager or Chief Executive Officer (CEO). However, why the banks don’t establish a new
department to receive the customers' complaints? And study the complaints to communicate with the
authorities and departments who are competent. Actually, Bank Muscat has a Call Center, which is a bank
channel to communicate with its customers. Call center is used to solve the customers' simple problems
such as closing the card when it is lost. Also, call center is used to help the customers who have problems
in interruption receiving Bank Muscat messages, when the customers change their phone number and
want to change it in the bank system, and so on. It is only for the simple problems and they don’t
receiving the big problems. This idea will help the bank too in improving its work quality and
performance, and will reduce the customers stress in finding where to go to submit his/her compliant.
However, there is a problem in the call center too, which is the employees be late to respond the
customers. This problem I was heard it form the customers themselves when they come to the bank to
complain. Also, increasing the commission of the remittance create a problem for those who want transfer
money outside Oman. The commission is 5 Omani Rials. I remembered on day, one customer want to
transfer money to United Arab Emirates (UAE), but he canceled that when he knew the bank commission
in remittance is 5 Omani Rials. I think if the bank reduce that amount it will be helpful for their customers
and attract them to transfer especially for those who transfer more outside. Moreover, there are some
countries the customers transfer money to them more such as United Arab Emirates (UAE), Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia (KSA), Thailand, Egypt, Bahrain and Lebanon, Th. If the bank make as agreement with the
beneficiary bank outside Oman to reduce the commission to 3 or 2.500 Omani Rials, it will help both
banks in term of attracting the customers and increasing their profits. In summary, make as what is called
Speed Transfer to India. The bank does that because of a huge number of Indian people in Oman.
Actually, that will help the bank to gain profit and attract more Indian people. This Speed Transfer to
India cost only 2.500 Omani Rials. Also, you can do it the transfer by Bank Muscat Application exactly in
the funds transfer icon. Furthermore, however, there is another problem in transferring money which is
you cannot make remittances to all countries in the world. There are some countries you cannot transfer
money to them at all. These countries are Russia, Iraq, Syria and Israel because of the political conditions
there. In a fact, this policy comes from the Omani government. So, we don’t have any solution for this
kind of problem. Moreover, sometimes among the remittances or deposits salaries, overtime and cheques,
some problems occurred such as deposit money on the wrong account, deposits wrong amount (may be
more or less than the actual one), change the salary amount between the employees (e.g. if employee A
has a salary 500.000 OMR and employee B has 700.000 OMR, then while depositing money on their
account the system does mistake in depositing for the employee A has a salary 700.000 OMR and for the
employee B has g00.000 OMR). This related to the employee mistake if the process done manually by
his/her when the number of the companies employees less than 10 employees. However, if the number of
the employees exceeds more than 10 employees, the process changed. The process is making scan of
company's Salaries or Overtime Message by a professional printer. Then, writing business messages to
Salaries Department including, welcome sentences, Name of the company, company's account number
and total amount of the salaries or overtime. Finally, I ended the message with thanking sentences with
supporting the message by scanned page of the company's Salaries or Overtime Message and Excel file of
25. 25
the salary or overtime which consists from name of the employee, bank account and his/her salary or
overtime. The bank asks the companies to do the salary in Microsoft Excell in order to do deposition
process automatically by entering the Excel file of the salary or overtime in the system. However, this is a
system and it does mistakes and as I mentioned before Bank Muscat has a slow system and a slow
network. Therefore, all that reasons contribute in doing mistake in the process of remittances or
depositing salaries, overtime and cheques. Moreover, there is a problem in opening a new bank account
for the companies which is delaying of opening the account. This process as we said before it only done
by the main branch because it is an account for the company, not personal account. So, the problem is in
the employees at the main branch who responsible in opening the accounts for the companies. I asked the
supervisor about the problem, she told me because of the new employees in the Accounts Department.
When the branches send all papers of opening the new account, they don’t respond to the branch if it is all
things well or not. They responded after long period what is incomplete, is there all papers there or not
and so on (opening new account requirement is mentioned before). I remember one day one customer
give all the official papers to open a new company account to the branch on 21/5/2015, I saw the date on
the opening new account form which is stamped by the bank receiving stamp. Then, on 9/8/2015 the
employees sent to the supervisors there is one paper is lost which is a letter of Opening Commercial
Account. I don’t know during this period they didn’t tell the customer about that. Finally, after a lot of
communication with the Opening Accounts Manager at the main branch in Muscat to finish opening the
account, the account is opened in 12/8/2015. He told me and to supervisor, if the bank didn’t open the
account, he will make a complaint at the main branch or he will change the bank. Actually, it is a big
problem in terms of losing the bank its reputation and their customers' trust. I think the bank should make
a rigid policy for those employees, who don’t care about their work. On the other hand, there is a problem
related to the employees too which is a weak oversight on the employees. Therefore, that created many
problems such as increasing fraud and stealing the money. Also, some employees made unreal loans and
unreal account in order to take money for their personal needs. Moreover, some of them lie to the
customers' especially old people, and force them to sign on the papers like transfer money to his/her
personal account. I got this information from the employees in the branch. It is very important to increase
the oversight on the employees and don’t give them all trust. Also, the bank should observe their
employees and emphasis them when access to customers' accounts and print out the balance sheet
statement to them by using iShare System, they should take customer ID card and Bank Muscat card to
ensure that is the customer account not for another one of. However, some employees ignore that and give
the balance sheet statement to any one without ensuring that is the real customer or he/she has as
authorization to take the balance sheet statement for the account or not. Also, it is same is when receiving
any papers, the employees should stamp by him/her self, without giving any one to stamp for him/her
because if any problems will happen, the customers will remember the one who make stamp and that one
may be doesn’t have any idea about the issue, so that will create a big problem for the employee and the
branch at all. It's same as for signature. Moreover, the bank should increase the oversight and observation
on the employees in term of adjusting customers' papers such as remittances, salaries and an internal
money transfer among Bank Muscat. When the customer did a mistake or missing some fields in the form
of remittance for example, if the customer misses some fields the employees should complete the form
with degree in order to avoid any fraud and indictment him/her to do any fraud. However, during the
summer internship, I saw some employees didn’t obligate with this policy. Therefore, that will create a
problem for the employees who spam and sign on the form and for the branch with the auditors form the
main branch who visit the Bank Muscat branches every two months to check the employees work and
performance, and evaluate the branch performance at all. So, if the auditors see that will not give the
employees any bonus at the end of the fiscal year (Dec 31) and will not give the branch any Excellence
Awards. Also, it is same as for when there is a mistake in the differences between writing currency in
amount and writing currency in the field of Currency of Remittance (e.g. on day xyz Company wrote in
the field EUR and in the amount it wrote USD). So, to solve that problem, the employees should call the
company and tell them about the mistake because the main branch will not accept the remittances.
Therefore, the company should adjust the mistake in two ways. Firstly, rewrite another paper, Secondly,
26. 26
by adjusting the mistake in the wrong paper with signing the company's manager near the modifying. If
the company chooses the second choice, the company's manager should sign by using the same the same
pen color for the some reason as mentioned before. Moreover, when one customer want to transfer money
from company's bank account to his/her personal account, it is very important to put the company's stamp
on the form in order to avoid any fraud but some employees ignore that. Furthermore, some employees
ignore to the received stamp on the forms and papers that the customers bring them. That also will create
a problem because may be the customer want to check if the transaction if it is done or not, so if there is
the received stamp will be as an evidence that both the branch and the customer received and had that
form, but if not the customer considers as accused with the fraud. Also, the employees should don’t forget
to take the original form and the one copy for customers with signing and stamping by his/her. In the fact,
this process is a difficult berceuse it needs high accurate when data in iShare System. In addition,
sometimes the problem of sending the daily emails of rate of the currency from Money Transfer and
Remittance Department to all Bank Muscat employees is delayed. This email is very useful in calculating
Amount Transfer by division the amount in Omani Rial over rate of currency. The rates of currency are
updated every day by Muscat Securities Market (MSM). This process is used to make remittances outside
Oman. This process is same as what I studied in Principles of Finance (FINA3311), Microeconomics
(ECON1211) and Macroeconomics (ECON2221) course at the College of Economics and Political
Sciences (CEPS). I don’t know exactly the problem come from where, from Bank Muscat or Muscat
Securities Market (MSM) who doesn’t release the rate of currency in an early time every day. However,
whatever the reason, is the bank should send the email of the rate in an early time because some
customers be angry when their remittance delay or be late to finish by make an agreement with the
Muscat Securities Market (MSM). Finally, that all problems that I faced, saw, heard during the summer
internship in Bank Muscat and I wish the Bank Muscat to apply the solutions may be will be a helpful for
the bank. In my opinion, Bank Muscat is a good bank and it deserves to be the best bank in Oman for
many years, but it should find some solutions for some problems in order to be better than the best.
27. 27
Conclusion
To sum up, I would like to thank Bank Muscat for giving me a chance to take summer internship with
them from 21/6/2015 to 13/8/2015. In a fact, I learned many things from tasks that gave me to do it such
as sending telex of remittances to main branch in Muscat because telex or Telegraphic Transfer as some
people called, is using when the transfer between Bank Muscat and other banks, so process needs
approving, may be will take 2 days. Also, the bank asked me to print out the statement of balance sheet
for customers who wanted, but before that I must take customer ID card and bank card. However, if the
company sends their delegates, I must see if the delegates have an authorization to take the statement or
not in order to keep privacy of customers. I did that every day. Moreover, when the customer wants to
transfer money I must take customer ID card and bank card too. Also, I must check the similarity between
the customers' signature in the system and what the customer wrote in the form of transfer. Finally, from
all that tasks my skills and abilities in speaking, writing, calculation and reading the statement of balance
sheet developed.
28. 28
References and Sources Used
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Bank Muscat. (2012). Bank Muscat : Shareholders. Retrieved Aug 18, 2015 from
http://www.bankmuscat.com/AR-SA/AboutUs/Pages/Mission-Statement.aspx/
Bank Muscat. (2014). Bank Muscat : Awards. Retrieved Aug 18, 2015 from
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Bank Muscat. (2015). Bank Muscat : Mission of Statement. Retrieved Aug 18, 2015 from
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bankmuscat.html
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Market Cap.(2015).Bank Muscat .Retrieved Aug 15, 2015 from
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Mubasher International Company. (2015). Bank Muscat. [Translated from Arabic]. Retrieved from Aug
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SQUStudents2014.(2014).Bank Muscat SWOT Analysis. Retrieved Aug 16, 2015 from
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Suleiman, H. (2014). Al-Itihad Al-Banki Al- Oroupi. [Translated from Arabic]. Retrieved from Aug 28,
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