- What
- Regulatory permission to test products live; no funding provided.
- Who
- FinTech and payments startups.
- From abroad
- A company in Oman is required — Foreign company must obtain a Commercial Registration in Oman in order to apply All programmes open to founders from abroad →
Checked · October 2026 · cbo.gov.om · How we check ↗
In detail
Central Bank of Oman — FinTech is a regulatory framework + sandbox in Oman. Regulatory sandbox for FinTech innovation.
- Amount
- Regulatory permission to test
- Eligibility
- FinTech and payments startups
- Sectors
- FinTech, Payments, Digital Banking
- Status
- Active
Is this for you?
Where is your company?
Are you open to giving equity?
We match them against what Central Bank of Oman — FinTech publishes.
A guide to the published criteria, not a decision — the programme selects.
What the source says
“A foreign company that is not based in Oman and does not have any activities here must therefore obtain a Commercial Registration in order to apply to the FRS.”
“Fintech Regulatory Sandbox (FRS) refers to live testing of new products or services in a controlled and test regulatory environment for which regulators may (or may not) permit certain regulatory relaxations for the limited purpose of testing.”
“No, those companies will be granted a temporary approval to test their Fintech solution governed by all CBO mandated regulatory requirements but with one or few regulatory exemptions for the sake of live testing.”
“The FRS allows the regulators, financial institutions, Fintech companies and customers (as end users) to conduct live tests”
“Cohorts Digital Payments DLT/ Blockchain Alternative Modes of Finance Open Banking”
“Applications for the CBO FRS are accepted on a rolling basis and are announced on CBO social media accounts.”
Closing soon on the map
No published deadline in the next 30 days · All published deadlines →
Compare government programmes in Oman
| Cost | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Central Bank of Oman — FinTechRegulatory permission to test products live; no funding provided. | not published | No equity | Active |
| Future Fund OmanVC OMR 4K–100K (ideation to seed); SME equity OMR 250K–5M; SME debt OMR 100K–500K; projects to OMR 100M. | OMR 100M | Equity or debt | Open |
| Knowledge Oasis MuscatTech park benefits and tax exemptions. | not published | No equity | Active |
| Riyada — ASMEDFinancing up to OMR 250,000; own share up to 10%, up to 10 years after grace. | up to OMR 250,000 | Loan | Active |
| Special Economic Zone at Duqm (SEZAD)Special economic zone incentives plus a 30-year tax holiday. | not published | No equity | Active |
| Oman Investment Authority (OIA)Sovereign capital backing; not a direct funder. | not published | Not published | Active |
| Sas for ExcellenceUp to OMR 1M per company in financing support, plus wage subsidies. | up to OMR 1M | Financing terms not published | Closed |
No programmes match these filters.
Highest amount in each programme’s own “What” line. Other currencies converted for sorting only (Gulf pegs; KWD, EUR, GBP approximate).
More programmes that take no equity →
Questions founders ask
What does Central Bank of Oman — FinTech offer?
Regulatory permission to test products live; no funding provided.
Does Central Bank of Oman — FinTech take equity?
No equity — service or permission.
Can founders from abroad apply?
A company in Oman is required — Foreign company must obtain a Commercial Registration in Oman in order to apply.
How do I apply?
Through its own application form — the Apply button on this page goes straight there.
Sources
Primary source · cbo.gov.om · LinkedIn · linkedin.com/company/central-bank-of-oman · Checked October 2026