Account Opening Rules

Stages and Steps of Implementing Communication Policy and Procedures for Inoperative Account Holders Banks shall comply with the following when communicating with customers according to each phase: a. Dormant accounts: - Banks shall inform customers, using their preferred methods of contact, of their account status, the required actions, and the procedure that will be taken by the bank in case customers fail to cooperate, including changing the account status to unclaimed. - Government entities and private associations shall be officially informed, a year before changing the account status from dormant to unclaimed, without prejudice to the provisions of paragraph (4.2) , of the procedures to be taken if there are no transactions in the account. - Embassies, consulates, their educational institutions, and resident diplomats shall be officially informed, a year before changing the account status from dormant to unclaimed, of the procedures to be taken if there are no transactions in the account. b. Unclaimed accounts: - A bank check shall be issued with the unclaimed account balance of the government entity to the Ministry of Finance's account with SAMA. The check shall be sent to SAMA under an official letter and a copy of the check to the government entity and the Deputy Ministry for Financial and Accounts Affairs. - Banks shall inform customers, using the preferred methods of contact based on the results of communication in the previous phase, of the unclaimed account status and that they are required to contact the bank to receive the balance and open alternative new accounts. - A bank check shall be sent to embassies, consulates and their educational institutions with the account balance. Such procedure shall be documented. c. Abandoned accounts: - Banks shall inform customers, using the preferred methods of contact based on the results of communication in the previous phase, of the abandoned account status. 5.5 Internal Audit Control and Reports Unclaimed and abandoned accounts shall be subject to the internal audit program once every two years, as a maximum. In addition, audit reports shall be submitted to the Audit Committee and the annual audit program shall not be linked to any other periodic programs related to such accounts.