A number of applicants said that they have been waiting for more than one or two years after completing procedures to get a loan. They attribute this mainly to lack of a specific mechanism to complete the procedures and give them loans.
Most of these applicants are seeking social loans such as those for family occasions, wedding and house repair.
Bank authorities, while confirming the delay, attributed this mainly to the huge increase in the number of applicants, and failure of prompt repayment of loans by earlier beneficiaries. They said that the bank authorities are striving hard to translate into action the keenness of rulers to ease the financial burden of people through extending them interest-free loans.
Faris Hidayatullah Al-Sheikh, one of the applicants, said that he has been waiting for a social loan for more than two years.
“I have completed all the required procedures for the loan but to no use. I had gone to the bank’s branch several times, and was always asked to come at a future date for the check. They give excuses on every occasion. What is the use if one is not getting loan when he is in dire need of it?” he asks.
Saeed Al-Qarni, another citizen, says that the bank officials used to give unconvincing excuses for the delay in extending loans.
“I have been waiting for the loan since one year and nine months. I got stereotype replies at least seven times from the concerned bank officials to come at a future date to receive the check,” he said, adding that such irresponsible behavior on the part of officials has damaged the reputation and credibility of the bank.
Saeed also noted that such bitter experiences have prompted several applicants to stop approaching the bank branches in cities and turn to rural branches where the procedures are comparatively quite fast and simple, mainly because of the small number of applicants.
Khaled Al-Zahrani, a young Saudi, is another victim, who waited for more than one and a half years for a marriage loan but to no avail.
“The bank officials told me to come and get the check on a day before my marriage. When I approached the bank, I was shocked to find that there was no way to get the loan before my marriage. They told me that there is no liquidity and the large number of people who applied for loan before me too have to wait” he said.
He said that there was no use even though he submitted a request to senior official, explaining his difficult financial condition and the marriage expense. This forced Al-Zahrani to seek credit from the company where he works to meet the marriage expenses.
Abdullah Hassan says that he waited for a loan for more than a year, and the bank officials said that he would get the loan only after more than 600 applicants ahead of him in the waiting list, had got their loans.
Meanwhile, Abdul Rahman Ameen, deputy manager of the bank in Riyadh, attributed the huge increase in the number of applicants to the delay in extending loans. “The bank is now working on a mechanism to solve this problem and expedite loan procedures,” he said.
