News

Paymob Secures PSP License From Oman’s Central Bank

The payment service provider license is the first to be issued by the CBO to an international fintech provider.

Published

2 years ago

January 16, 2024

Nour Nasir

Paymob

Paymob, a prominent MENAP (Middle East, North Africa, and Pakistan) financial services provider, has announced its acquisition of a Payment Service Provider (PSP) license from the Central Bank of Oman (CBO). The groundbreaking achievement marks a significant milestone for the fintech firm, as it becomes the first international company to obtain full licensing within the Sultanate.

With the newly issued PSP license, Paymob gains official authorization to accept and manage both online and in-store payments within Oman. This functionality is made possible through a seamless integration with OmanNet, the CBO’s secure payment infrastructure.

Now, Oman-based merchants will be able to facilitate payments locally and across borders via Paymob’s gateway, streamlining the cumbersome process of multiple integrations.

Islam Shawky, co-founder and CEO of Paymob, explained the significance of the new license: “It is a proud moment for Paymob to be the first international fintech company to receive PSP licensing in Oman. We appreciate the vote of confidence that CBO has placed in our technology. We are committed to enabling SME growth in Oman by making cutting-edge payment solutions accessible to all merchants and processing transactions seamlessly and securely through our local gateway”.

Also Read: A Guide To Digital Payment Methods In The Middle East

Oman has been steadily advancing towards the digital transformation of its banking sector, driven by the Vision 2040 initiative aimed at economic diversification. The data from 2018 to 2022 reveals a remarkable surge in ATM, POS, and e-commerce transactions processed through OmanNet, with a staggering 300% increase from 82.4 million to 252.9 million transactions.

Paymob’s attainment of the Central Bank of Oman’s PSP license signifies a remarkable stride for the company and the fintech landscape as a whole, promising substantial benefits for Oman’s digital payments ecosystem and further strengthening Paymob’s position as a leading player in the MENAP region.

News

TikTok Hopes Labels And Literacy Will Tame AI-Generated Content

Three billion AI videos carry warning labels already. The next fight is spam accounts pushing politics, finance, and dubious health content.

Published

1 day ago

July 14, 2026

Dana Saadeh

tiktok hopes labels and literacy will tame ai-generated content

The current volume of AI spam on TikTok would likely surprise even the most enthusiastic of users. The short video platform has now labeled over three billion AI-generated videos, using a combination of Content Credentials, creator disclosure tools and invisible watermarking. Two years after becoming the first video platform to implement C2PA Content Credentials, the company announced on July 13 that it is joining the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity’s Steering Committee, taking a hand in steering the transparency standard it was early to adopt.

Labeling, though, only addresses content that plays by the rules. The harder problem is AI used to mass-produce spam that drowns out authentic creators. TikTok says it will begin testing enhanced detection systems to identify accounts that exist solely to churn out AI-generated spam, focusing first on areas that touch public trust and well-being: politics and current events, financial advice, and medical information. The move builds on enforcement efforts that saw more than 86 million fake accounts removed in the first quarter of this year.

The other half of the strategy is education, which has led TikTok to partner with the National Association for Media Literacy Education and AI expert Henry Ajder on a new guide encouraging responsible use of AI tools, alongside resources aimed at helping users build practical skills for spotting AI-generated content. Its expert-led literacy program, run with partners including No Filtr and Raspberry Pi, has generated more than 200 million views since launching in November 2025, backed by a commitment of more than US$4 million.

Also Read: YouTube Rolls Out Supervised Children’s Accounts Across MENA

The regional context matters here too. Across the MENA, creators are increasingly using AI for storytelling and production, and TikTok is leaning into that with features like Smart Split and AI Outline. For users on the receiving end, Manage Topics offers a dial to control how much AI-generated content appears in their feed.

Whether detection can keep pace with generation remains the open question. For now, TikTok’s answer is to label everything, teach everyone, and hunt the spammers.