Account Opening Rules

Non-Resident Insurance Companies and Money Changers Saudi banks may not open bank accounts for such juristic entities except in the following cases after obtaining approval of the CEO/general director and the manager of compliance department to open the account and informing SAMA when opening the account: • A non-resident insurance company with an agreement with a Saudi bank to offer insurance products: Such company may only open an escrow account in Saudi riyal and other foreign currencies with the partner bank to facilitate its business under the agreement. • A non-resident money changer: It may only open a correspondent account after providing the documents related to practicing (banking activities) currency exchange activities as specified in Rule (300.2.5) . 300.2.8 Payment Card Companies Not Residing in Saudi Arabia and Not GCC Affiliated Banks are not permitted to open accounts for such companies. However, after obtaining approval of the CEO/general director and the manager of compliance department to open a bank account and informing SAMA when opening such account, the bank may hold intermediary accounts in Saudi riyals for these companies to enable them to pay the value of customer purchases to the merchants in Saudi Arabia. Banks should also obtain authenticated licenses or registration documents from these companies in order to be able to identify them.