Banking.....Saudi Arabian Style

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Monday, February 6, 2012


Today I went to open my bank account. Not a simple thing to do here in Riyadh. You need a few things first....not just money.


First you need your Iqama (your Saudi residence card). You get that by providing your passport, and Saudi Professionals Registration, and then in a couple weeks you will get your Iqama. Bad thing about my Iqama is they use a picture of me that they took at the airport. Of course after my long trip you can imagine that picture doesn't look great.....at all. Possibly the worst picture ever.


You also need an Employment Certificate.....which is probably the easiest part of the whole process.


The next step is going to the bank where the most un-fun game of musical chairs you have ever played begins.

First you see a guy in sales. You tell him you need to open an account and provide him with all your required documents. This guy won't look at you (he probably isn't suppose to) and will barely talk to you. He mostly just taps the desk and tells you to "sign here".
"Tap the desk" guy will then send you to "Customer service" to get your debit card. Today it was particularly hard because only one guy was working "Customer service" and everyone seemed to need something. I gave him a piece of paper and he gave me a card.....that wasn't my debit card but just my account card.

From there I took a number and then waited to see a teller so that I could deposit by pay cheque (you need money in your account before they will issue your debit card). Lucky for me I had earlier stood in line with a RT (respiratory therapist) from Canada (his name is Harry) who I had met at the airport the night I arrived. He knew what I was trying to do so had talked to someone on my behalf so when I sat down to wait to see the teller, I was called up by a very helpful guy. Now this guy helped me deposit my cheque into my account and told me the procedure for transferring money overseas (I will attempt that another day) and how to actually get my debit card.


From there I went back to "Customer service" to get my debit card. Here I had to fill out another piece of paper (mostly written in Arabic by the way but enough English to figure out where I was suppose to provide my address and my signature) and then I was given my debit card (YEAH).

Then I had to visit some guy who sits in behind the tellers to activate my debit card. Who knew I was even allowed back there.....but I was.

So if you are counting to open my account I had to talk to 4 different people and sit in the bank for about an hour and a half. It was a very frustrating process. After all that I can honestly say I didn't trust that my money was actually in my account.....so I checked it at the ATM.


I am happy to report that the money is in my account and my debit card if ready to be used.


Just some more examples of Saudi efficiency......but at least the hard part is over (I think).


Julie