RIYADH, 16 March 2004 — Saudi banks have specified the end of this month as the last chance for customers to come forward and update their personal information regarding their bank accounts or have them frozen.
Local banks said in a joint statement released recently that due to public interest and consumer rights, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency issued new regulations regarding updating info of bank clients.
The statement requested that banks ask their clients to produce the necessary documents, which involves photocopies of their ID cards or iqamas as well as proof of the authentic signatures of their clients. Account holders who do not update their information by the March 31 deadline will have their accounts frozen.
In case of an expired Saudi ID card, the statement said that individual accounts or corporate accounts whose issuers had not renewed their ID cards for 90 days would have their accounts frozen. As for account holders who opened their accounts using family cards or old female identification papers, their accounts will be frozen if 3 years have passed from the date their account was first opened with the bank.
It further stressed that non-Saudis must tender a photocopy of a valid passport to their banks. Accounts of residents would be frozen as soon as their iqama, passport, special passport, or diplomatic card expires.
As for corporate accounts, local banks have agreed to give a grace period of 90 days from the expiry date of their commercial registration to visit the bank’s branch. If for any reason a representative of the company does not show up, the account will be frozen and the person who opened the account will be held accountable for any financial assets not returned to the bank.
