Our strong commitment to customers

United Finance Company SAOG (UFC) is registered under the Commercial Companies Law of the Sultanate of Oman. It is a financing business which receives its income from the financing of personal, commercial, and fleet vehicles, and offering small business loans and other financial services within the Sultanate of Oman.

Our mission is to make life easier for people who want to enjoy greater opportunities and achieve more, by offering responsive, friendly and helpful financial advice with products and services tailored for individuals and businesses.

Our aim is to be the preferred finance partner in the Sultanate, inspiring our customers to achieve more, empowering them with the right tools to enhance life or grow their business, and supporting them to enjoy greater opportunities - to live more, to grow more, to achieve more.  This mandate also represents an internal challenge to our staff and stakeholders to do more, to become a better financial partner for our customers every day.

We are wholly dedicated to a people-centric culture that places the customer above all else. The fundamental to that commitment is trust. We seek to be trusted by our customers for our financial strength and stability, our ability to provide finance and respected for the highest quality of service in accordance with regulatory requirements and international best practices.

Our Customers First Policy

We are committed to providing a high-quality service to all current and future customers. As a pivotal part of this commitment, we outline our Customers First Policy which includes our Customer Service and Protection Frameworks which have been developed to contribute to the overall financial well-being of the people who interact with us. Our aim is to promote fair, transparent, and ethical practice in our business so that both customers and staff are aware of their rights and obligations, and the remedial steps that will be undertaken in case of any disputes or complaints.

Our Customers First Policy has been built around our corporate values and the following principles detailed in the Financial Consumer Protection Regulatory Framework issued by the Central Bank of Oman. Accordingly, we ensure:

1.    Fair treatment and responsible business conduct
2.    Disclosure and transparency
3.    Protection of consumer data and privacy
4.    Complaints handling and redress
5.    Financial education and financial capability

Know your Rights

As a customer of United Finance Company, you have the following rights:

Right to fair treatment

You have the right to be treated fairly and honestly at all stages of your relationship with United Finance, without discrimination based on race, colour, gender, age and suchlike. We may offer certain products and services designed for specific target market group, which do not amount to any unfair discrimination. Treating all customers fairly and honestly is an integral part of the governance and corporate culture of the Company. United Finance staff will attend to customers’ needs with courtesy, honesty, professionalism, and respect and pay special attention to the consumers who may be experiencing vulnerability such as elderly, physically disabled or customers with low financial literacy.

Right to transparency, fair and honest dealing

You have the right to be provided with clear, accurate, and timely information on the material aspects of the financial products and services offered by the Company in full disclosure of the terms and conditions, fees and charges, benefits, risks, and any other relevant information that may affect your decisions or actions. The Company will ensure that this information is easily accessible, understandable, and inclusive of the rights and responsibilities of each party. United Finance staff will act with integrity, professionalism, and respect in all their dealings with you, offering you customer service that is founded on the Company’s four strategic values of Focus, Action, Support and Trust.

Right to suitability

You have the right to be offered products and services that are appropriate to your needs, risk tolerance, financial standing and understanding of the product and service. This includes cross selling done through various channels, such as meetings, phone calls, emails, or text messages. The suitability of the products and services will be assessed by the Company staff on the basis of the information provided by you.

Right to privacy

You have the right to have your personal and financial information protected by the Company from any unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. This includes your right to data protection. United Finance Company, its officers and staff will keep your personal and financial information confidential unless:

1. You have authorized such disclosure explicitly in writing.
2. Disclosure is required under the laws and as instructed by the Central Bank of Oman, in which case the Company shall inform you promptly of such disclosure.

Right to grievance redress and compensation

You have the right to have any grievances resolved in a fair, timely, and effective manner, and to receive appropriate remedy or compensation where warranted from the Company. The Company has put in place clear and transparent policies and procedures for handling customer complaints and grievances. In accordance with such policies and procedures, you have the right to:

1. Full and easy access to complaint handling within the Company through a range of channels including telephone, email, web, mobile, or suchlike.
2. Receive prompt acknowledgement and response from the Company.

Your Responsibilities

Provide complete and accurate information

1. Always give full and accurate information when you are filling in any documents to be given to the Company. Do not give false details or leave out important information.
2. You should update your personal information, including contact information, so that it is updated continuously and also when this is requested by the Company.

Carefully read and review all information and documents

1. When you submit your application, you should receive full details on your obligations for the particular service or product. Ensure that you have access to the details of these obligations, that you understand them and can comply with them.
2. It is important to ask questions to Company staff about anything that is unclear or a condition that you are unsure about.
3. Review all of your documents before you sign them to ensure that they are complete and free of any error. Your signature is an approval and agreement of the document content.
4. Make sure all of the required fields and numbers are completed in a form or document that is presented to you for signing or initialling. Do not sign empty or partially completed forms or documents.

Act responsibly and carefully

1. When making a request for a product or service, you should be certain that it suits your needs. You should disclose all other financial obligations with all parties to ensure the decision is based on your ability to meet your additional obligations after contracting for the product or service.
2. Do not purchase a product or service where you feel that the risks do not suit your financial situation. You should ask the Company staff to explain the risks inherent in the financial products or services you are interested in.
3. Do not use the product or service, except in accordance with clearly stated terms and conditions that may be associated with them, and after making sure of your complete understanding.
4. Do not request or accept financing facilities beyond your repayment capacity.
5. Ensure the timely repayments of your financing facilities.
6. If you are facing financial difficulties in the repayment of your financing facilities, do let the Company know as soon as possible. By talking to the Company, you can discuss possible alternative repayment arrangements that will enable you to fully discharge your responsibilities.

Be aware of your rights and responsibilities as a customer

1. Be aware of your rights and responsibilities and seek information, advice, education, or assistance when needed.
2. You should know how to make a complaint. You can be proactive in using this service and knowing how to escalate your issue to higher levels, if appropriate. The Company staff will provide you with details on how to complain and the time frame for the response.
3. Keep copies of your documents. Keep all copies of signed contracts and other relevant documents and papers in a safe place that are provided to you by the Company.

Our Responsibilities

Training our staff to understand the high standards of ethics involved in being part of a financial services company is extremely important. United Finance Company takes this matter seriously and ensures that staff are fully trained in every aspect of customer service and product knowledge.

Comprehensive training

In addition, regular training is conducted to ensure that service standards are the very best they can be. Besides this, staff are fully trained in advanced financial services standards and are familiar with all matters of confidentiality, and implications of ‘knowing your customer’ (KYC) and ‘anti money laundering” (AML) besides all required fiduciary practices that are required.

Following the highest standards of governance

Act with integrity and ethics at all times and remember that in a business where financial transactions and client confidentiality are of paramount importance, actions taken in the course of work are always open to scrutiny and individuals who do not follow the highest standards are always held to account.

1. United Finance Company is fully committed to living by its corporate values and governance every day through the actions of its Management, Staff and Stakeholders. The Company strives to portray the highest levels of integrity and accountability.
2. To set the benchmark, be a good corporate citizen, and provide a positive and healthy work environment, The Company has implemented a Speak Up Policy.  
3. This ensures that customers, employees, and stakeholders exercise ultimate honesty, fairness, objectivity, and diligence to reject and prevent any form of corruption, bribery, fraud, or illegal/unethical behaviour.
4. The Company adopts a zero-tolerance approach to any wrongdoing, unlawful/unethical conduct or action that damages or threatens to damage its reputation, employees or assets as stated in the code of ethics.  

The Speak Up Policy

The objective of this policy is to encourage any person who may suspect wrongdoing, to share their concerns, that are directly related to UFC's affairs and businesses. It sets out the framework, that concerned employee should adopt in order to ensure that his/her concerns are properly and adequately handled in a professional and confidential manner.

The Company strictly prohibits discrimination, retaliation or harassment of any kind by any Company officer, director, employee or agent against any employee or other interested party who, in good faith, reports or participates in an investigation of reported complaints of questionable or illicit conduct. The following list of circumstances that may trigger the need to Speak Up includes:

• Suspicion of criminal offence.
• Fraud; dishonesty, corruption.
• Failure to comply with legal obligations (breach of contractual or other obligation, statutory duty or requirements or administrative requirements, including suspected fraud, malpractice, or breach of any best practice - including any applicable code of ethics conduct).
• Misuse or abuse of assets of UFC including its funds.
• A danger to the health and safety of any individual.
• A danger to the security and safety of any individual, assets or the environment.
• A deliberate disclosure of information, which could result in any of the above.
• If any of UFC employees wish to make any critical/constructive comments, they should do so following the appropriate policies and procedures set out for such matters.

Speak Up Protection and Anonymity

1. Employees and outside parties who in good faith report a violation or suspected violation regardless of whether or not the matter is ultimately substantiated will be fully protected against any harassment, retaliation, or adverse employment/business consequences. Moreover, any staff who retaliates against or victimizes such employees will be subject to disciplinary action.
2. UFC will accommodate calls from individuals who wish to remain anonymous. However, if total anonymity is requested, it is important to note that successful investigation and resolution of the matter may depend on the amount of information shared and ongoing interaction. There are limits on the Company’s ability to investigate and resolve issues in circumstances in which the caller chooses to remain anonymous.
3. Therefore, bearing in mind our commitment to confidentiality, you are encouraged to provide as much information as possible in your voicemail message (contact name, telephone number and details) to allow for a prompt response to your concern. If a caller does not wish to leave their names but does identify and leave information on an issue, that matter shall be reviewed and investigated to the extent possible.

Speak Up report content

The report should contain only genuine/sufficient information to permit adequate investigation either orally or written (by email or letter) stating that they are using the Speak Up Policy. It should not be based on rumours or hear say. The person reporting possible breaches in standards or ethics should include the following information:

• Name and contact number of the reporting employee/party.
• Description of the nature of the violation with sufficient details including when, where and how the violation occurred.
• Names of employees and other individuals involved or suspected to be involved in the violation.
• Date and time of the report

The Speak Up initiative encourages people to use any of the below listed communication channels to send a report.

Fraud Investigation Committee
United Finance Company (SAOG)  
P.O. Box 3652, P.C. 112, Ruwi, Sultanate of Oman.

Ethic help desk email to:
fic@ufcoman.com