As of latest updates published by SAMA on 14 April, 2022, the restriction imposed on 10 April 2022 has been canceled. Therefore, All local and non-local people in Saudi Arabia can use banking services same as they were using before 10 April 2022. However, The Central bank of Saudi Arabia has advised all users to be vigilant and beware of fraudulent calls and SMS.
The following restrictions has been lifted:
The Saudi Arabia Monetary Authority (SAMA) has imposed some new restrictions on banking for expatriates in Saudi Arabia. The restrictions will come into effect from April 10, 2022.
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What are the restrictions by SAMA?
- According to the SAMA announcement, all non-Saudi people in KSA cannot open a bank account online. Previously, online opening of a bank account was available for almost everyone in the kingdom. But situation has been changed now, all applicants have to visit the bank in person in order to open a new bank account. The identity of the applicant will be verified for bank account application.
- For the money transfer: If a bank account holder wants to add a new beneficiary, he/she have to visit the bank branch to add a new beneficiary. Previously, it was possible to add online.
- A limit of online money transfer has been set to SR60,000.
- International money transfer will take 24 hours to complete whereas local money transfer will take 2 hours.
The Saudi Arabia Monetary Authority has emphasized all banks to follow new measures which are in line with the law by the Saudi Central Bank. According to the SAMA, the new measures have been introduced to protect clients from frauds and to boost their security and confidence in the banking system of Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, the new restrictions will be temporary. However, the ending date of restrictions has not been revealed yet.
For the record, SAMA is now know as the Saudi Central Bank.