Governmental Establishment to Accept a Stable Coin as Means of Payment

In an experiment that is considered to be the first of its kind in financial technology in the Sultanate, Oman Water Wastewater Services Company (Member of Nama Group) and Digital Digits (Easy Coins) signed Memorandums of Understanding with Connected Chains to try out stable coin Hasalah Wallet for Payments.

The agreements were signed remotely by HH Sayyid Azzan Bin Qais Al Said, Co-founder, on behalf of Digital Digits, by Qais bin Saud Al Zakwani, CEO, on behalf of OWWSC and by Eng. Nabil Salim Al Siyabi, Co-Founder of Connected Chains.

The agreements signed indicate both OWWSC and Easy Coins' keen interest to be part of a first-of-its-kind fintech trial within the Sultanate of Oman, whereby a cryptographic digital stable coin, pegged to the value of the Omani Riyal, can be trialed for payments of dues from subscribers, in a selected number of customer service halls of OWWSC, and online on Easy Coins, using the Hasalah Digital Wallet.

HH Sayyid Azzan Bin Qais Al Said, Co-Founder of Digital Digits, said, “We are proud to empower such a trial within the Sultanate of Oman which in turn will improve Easy Coins’ service competitiveness to match global players in this space. Easy Coins customers will significantly benefit from the reduced cost of payment processor fees to use our service with Hasalah”.

Qais Al Zakwani, CEO of the Oman Water and Wastewater Services Company, commented: “In line with the company’s ambition to keep pace with the digital transformation and to provide our customers with innovative options to pay their monthly dues, we are extremely pleased to enter into this partnership, through which we hope our customers will be provided with a new experience to pay bills through the Hasalah wallet, once launched”.

Hamood Al Hamadan, Director of Sas Center from Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology (MTCIT), explained, "We believe that the advancement of technology in Sultanate of Oman is in need of increased collaboration and coordination of such trials. Through supporting technology innovation and experimentation by the government and private sector, we foresee many local tech products growing and scaling regionally and globally. MTCIT’s Sas Center is continually supporting such trials between government entities and tech startups through our Jadara program, and look forward to their positive outcomes to increase confidence and adoption levels of technology in Oman".

Nabil Al Siyabi, CEO of Connected Chains, said, “We are excited to work with OWWSC, Easy Coins and the other relevant stakeholders in tokenizing the Omani Riyal to enable real life benefits in doing so. We welcome any other government or private entities interested in accepting the tokenized Omani riyal, when fully rolled out with its associated benefits. Furthermore, we welcome any government or private entities interested in tokenizing their assets of value, using our ISO 27001 & ISAE 3402 Type 1 security certified solution (Nexus) and regulatory compliant focus to tokenization, to reach out to us. We can evaluate how tokenization can add value to your institution, undergo a legal and technical assessment and aim to tokenize your assets with a minimal to no cost overhead goal”.

It is worth mentioning that OWWSC would be the first governmental establishment to provide such an experience to customers. Accepting a stable coin as a means of payment is a huge step in the blockchain and crypto space that will surely encourage other establishments to consider it too.

The trial would be evaluated periodically to further develop its integration with OWWSC and address any challenges that may be identified. After ensuring its success and in order to achieve broader flexibility for OWWSC customers, it will be implemented and approved as one of the primary channels for payment at OWWSC. Also, the trial aims to commence in coordination and alignment with all relevant governmental stakeholders.