Committed to nurturing a financially conscious society while encouraging savings and future planning amongst minors, Sohar International recently announced the launch of its revamped Minor Account. The Sohar | Minor Account is the perfect financial tool for parents who are looking at giving their child an early start in life by securing their future from a financial perspective. With a zeal of features and benefits consisting of competitive interest rates on savings and zero minimum charges to free cash withdrawals from local ATMs and instantly issued debit cards, Sohar | Minor Account is designed to meet the needs of the local market and provide more value.
Commenting on the launch of the revamped account, Mr. Khalil Salim Al Hedaifi, Chief Retail Banking Officer at Sohar International said, “The world we live in today provides us significant exposure in all aspects of life including and not limited to financial literacy and banking in general. With that, parents have become more financially conscious especially when it comes to their children and how they can instill healthy financial habits within them. The new generations are continuously fueled through their inherent ambitious spirits. It is, therefore, critical that they understand the importance of how such products enable them to save, invest, and therefore secure a promising future. One of the biggest advantages that minors have with respect to savings is the aspect of time. Inculcating a judicious savings mindset today will serve as a springboard to help them fulfil their dreams in the future.”
Mr. Khalil Salim Al Hedaifi added saying, “Customer segmentation is a key aspect of retail innovation at Sohar International. In line with this, Sohar International’s Minor Account is designed in a way that it offers the necessary encouragement to targeted segment to save for the future by offering them several benefits that complement their lifestyle.”
While an initial deposit amount of OMR 50 is required to open the Minor Account, there are no minimum balance charges thereafter. On opening the account, children below 15 years are entitled to a free branded cash deposit card which can be used for deposits at Sohar International CDMs. With the intention of safeguarding the savings, these cards do not offer any withdrawal facility. Meanwhile, children aged 15 years and above are provided a free branded debit card with a daily ATM cash withdrawal or POS usage limit of RO 50 per transaction. It also has a cap to ensure the total transaction amount does not exceed RO 200 per month.
Parents interested in opening minor account for their children can simply head towards any of Sohar International branches with the necessary documentations. The branch, having processed the documents can then open the account and issue the deposit or debit card instantly. With the goal of enhancing flexibility, Minor Accounts can be maintained in OMR AED, USD, and GBP. To ensure adequate supervision, all accounts maintained for minors are operated by a parent or legally appointed guardian (the operator) only until the minor attains the age of 18, following which the operator of the account is required to immediately notify the bank.
The Minor Account is also linked to an interest-bearing Saving Smart Account which offers competitive interest rates with interest paid on monthly basis. For monthly average balances below RO. 1000, account holders are eligible for a 1.50% interest per annum. Those maintaining a balance that is equal to or more than RO. 1000 and below RO. 5000 are entitled to 2% interest per annum, while accounts with a balance equal to or more than RO. 5000 are offered an attractive rate of 2.25% per annum.
Through an array of holistic and well-conceptualised products, Sohar International seeks to give more control to the hands of the youth while expanding access to innovative, personalised, and secure financial instruments that have the potential to offer sustainable in the future.
