RIYADH, 15 March 2005 — Al-Rajhi Banking and Investment Corporation (ARABIC) has embarked on a major drive to attract more Saudi and expatriate customers to use its remittance services.
The bank has launched a new ‘Remittance Discount Card’ and a ‘VIP Card’ besides ensuring better services, speedy delivery of funds to beneficiaries and discounted remittance fees for regular customers.
“The move will also enable Al-Rajhi Bank to grab a bigger share of the local remittance market, which is in the region of SR60 billion annually,” said Sami Al-Rajhi, chief of Al-Rajhi Exchange and Remittance Centers.
Sami said that “the Discount Card and VIP Card will also be issued by the 20 new remittance centers and 29 remittance units to be opened later this year”. The bank, which reported 35 percent growth in the volume of remittances last year, currently holds 45 percent of the market share.
Sami said that “a customer holding a VIP Card will be treated as real VIP, who will be entertained by the banking officials including the branch manager as and when he visits the bank. He will also not be required to stand in queue for sending his remittances”.
Sami pointed out that a major part of the remittance fees will be waived in case of ‘Discount Card’ holders. Such cards, he said, will be issued to frequent users of the bank’s remittance services. He also pointed out that ARABIC has captured a major share of the Kingdom’s remittance market.
Expatriates living in Saudi Arabia have remitted about SR585.4 billion during the past 10 years, which is equal to the total funds required by the government for infrastructure projects until 2020.
Also, the remittances by the country’s seven million expatriates have increased by two percent annually despite the Saudization drive. Asked about the “Al-Rajhi Worldwide Express Services”, Sami said “we offer express remittance, cash online delivered to beneficiary within minutes or hours, guaranteed draft checks, traveler checks and remittance by automatic teller machines (ATMs) and Internet besides facilities for cancellation and refund of money”.
“This has been made possible because ARABIC has the largest network of correspondent banks around the world,” he said.
Moreover, ARABIC, as a bank on the whole, is on an expansion course. It plans to open about 110 high-tech model branches this year in an effort to attract high-worth customers.