RIYADH, 28 February 2008 — Under a new agreement, SABB will operate a call center in Riyadh for HSBC Bank Middle East (HBME) to handle calls from Arabic-speaking customers related to cards and various banking services across the region.
Richard Groves, executive director and CEO at SABB, and Ken Matheson, regional COO for HSBC in Dubai, signed the agreement at a ceremony attended by SABB and HSBC senior managers.
The new SABB unit, which will be phased in during the second half of this year by December, will handle around 3,000 calls a day covering a full range of credit cards and banking services, as well as dealing with marketing, new product campaigns and contact with prospective customers.
“The project is highly significant for SABB. It demonstrates the confidence that HSBC Group has in SABB’s ability to deliver an essential service to a world class standard,” Richard Groves said following the signing ceremony.
“The co-operation between SABB and HSBC is already at a high level and we strongly believe that our close relationship will continue to create frequent opportunities for strengthening our working partnership.”
“This strategic alliance with SABB is very much about being ‘Joined Up’ and a true demonstration of what we can do together and how we can make our businesses more efficient through the use of technology,” said Matheson.
SABB’s current call center operations have won global recognition as being among the world’s best. At the “2007 World Call Centers Awards”, SABB won the silver medal for best call center in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and the silver medal for “Best Call Center” among medium sized operations, in addition to “Best Outbound Campaign.”
