Oman Arab Bank (OAB) announced the launch of an independent Islamic banking services unit under the brand name ‘Al Yusr’ recently. OAB aims to launch its Islamic operations with five branches across the major cities of Oman during 2013, a press release said.

Commenting on the launch of the new Islamic banking serv-ices, Abdul Kader Askalan, CEO of OAB, said, "It is my pleasure to be announcing Al Yusr, our dedicated Islamic banking Unit. We are confident that Al Yusr will provide customers with an avenue to be true to their beliefs while offering all the advantages of world class banking."

He added, "Islamic banking seeks to promote the ideals of a prosperous society and stable economy, based on basic Islamic ideologies. Oman already has a flourishing banking sector and the opening of the Islamic segment will only serve to make it more diverse."Al Yusr will have a special focus on retail, SME and corporate banking segments of the market and plans to launch innovative and tailored products suitable to the needs of Omani customers.

The Al Yusr corporate identity uses elements of the OAB brand as a design influence. The three circles, which are well identified as the bank’s logo, have been replaced by squares with detailed Islamic motifs to reflect the core belief of Al Yusr - adherence to Islamic values and the desire to maintain cultural values.