RIYADH, 16 September — The Saudi American Bank (Samba) has launched new products and relaunched the existing ones for a broad segment of its clientele covering women, children and high-end customers.
Announcing the new product line, Eisa Al-Eisa, board member and deputy managing director of Samba, said they include “Meraati Account”‚ for women, “Samba Stars”, a children’s savings account, and “Samba Gold” for their upscale customers.
“We are making tremendous efforts to instill the ‘Bank of the Family’ concept within the Saudi community, using our state-of-the-art technological capabilities that enable us to serve the entire Saudi household.” He said the products were driven by the bank’s desire to help the householder develop the saving, investment and banking habits within the family and create an affiliation between the family and the bank.
Referring to the Meraati Account, he said it is designed to meet the needs of the Saudi woman, given the educational and social levels she has achieved. “The new account also aims to satisfy the ambitions of the Saudi businesswomen,” Al-Eisa said. He added that in order to complement the bank’s family product offerings, it has launched Samba Stars account, the first of its kind in the Kingdom. Designed for children, it helps them promote savings habit .
Responding to a question that banks were collecting late fee payments from customers due to delays concerning the time differential between Gregorian and Hegira calendars, Jamieson said the matter would have to be addressed by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, banks and Visa. He denied that Visa was cooperating with the FBI in passing on information on transactions in the Middle East. — Javid Hassan
