Banks directory 2026

    Banks in Saudi Arabia

    Kingdom banking is a SAMA-licensed franchise first and a brand story second: Saudi National Bank and Al Rajhi still take most of the corporate and retail conversation, while Vision 2030 project finance, Islamic books and three digital-bank charters are rewriting who a hospital treasurer or distributor CFO actually calls.

    SAMA, the Saudi Central Bank, still publishes under that historic acronym even as English materials also say Saudi Central Bank. Listed names that recur in Tadawul filings and in BioNixus Kingdom interviews include Riyad Bank, Saudi Awwal Bank, Banque Saudi Fransi, Arab National Bank, Alinma, Bank AlJazira, Bank Albilad and The Saudi Investment Bank. Gulf International Bank’s Saudi vehicle, a National Bank of Kuwait branch and a Deutsche Bank branch sit on the foreign-and-regional slice. STC Bank, D360 Bank and Vision Bank hold the dedicated digital-bank licences SAMA created for a branch-light model; they are not stored-value facilities. Stored-value and payment-service licences are a separate SAMA class and must not be read as deposit-taking bank charters. This page is an account map for a healthcare or consumer-brand team that needs to know who extends working capital, who runs the merchant terminal in a Riyadh or Jeddah pharmacy, and which sharia window a family group will accept.

    Updated September 2026 · Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) — licensed banks, digital-bank charters and payment-service / stored-value classes as of September 2026 · 18 named accounts

    Request a proposal for Saudi ArabiaBrowse the 18 companies

    3

    SAMA digital-bank licensees now operating: STC Bank, D360 Bank, Vision Bank

    SAMA

    Saudi Central Bank — still the public brand and the banking supervisor

    Islamic

    Dedicated sharia banks on this map: Al Rajhi, Alinma, Albilad, AlJazira

    Tadawul

    Exchange where the large local commercial names publish the filings this list was checked against

    Named accounts

    Top banks in Saudi Arabia

    Public, well-known names BioNixus studies at account and SKU level. This is an editorial snapshot, not an endorsement or a market-share ranking. Cross-checked against Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) — licensed banks, digital-bank charters and payment-service / stored-value classes (as of 2026-09-05).
    #CompanyHQ
    01Saudi National Bank (SNB)Riyadh
    02Al Rajhi BankRiyadh
    03Riyad BankRiyadh
    04Saudi Awwal Bank (SAB)Riyadh
    05Banque Saudi FransiRiyadh
    06Arab National Bank (ANB)Riyadh
    07Alinma BankRiyadh
    08Bank AlJaziraJeddah
    09Bank AlbiladRiyadh
    10The Saudi Investment BankRiyadh
    11Gulf International Bank — SaudiRiyadh
    12National Bank of Kuwait — Saudi branchRiyadh
    13Bank Muscat — Saudi branchRiyadh
    14Deutsche Bank — Saudi ArabiaRiyadh
    15STC BankRiyadh
    16D360 BankRiyadh
    17Vision BankRiyadh
    18Saudi Central Bank (SAMA)Riyadh

    Primary research

    These are the banks whose customers we survey in Saudi Arabia

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    Top banks market research companies in Saudi Arabia (2026)

    How the market is structured

    How SAMA licences, Islamic books and Vision 2030 cash move through Kingdom banks

    A private hospital group in Riyadh typically keeps a primary operating account at SNB or Riyad Bank, a sharia window or a second line at Al Rajhi or Alinma, and card-acquiring that still settles through the national mada rails. Payroll for mixed Saudi-and-expatriate workforces is a banking product, not an HR afterthought: wage protection, iban verification and SAMA know-your-customer rules decide how fast a new clinic can hire. Project finance for Vision 2030 health clusters, industrial cities and giga-project clinics sits with the large listed books and with GIB’s Saudi vehicle more often than with a digital-only charter. STC Bank, D360 and Vision Bank matter for consumer deposits and for app-native SME current accounts; they do not yet replace SNB or Al Rajhi on a multi-year construction facility. Foreign branches such as Deutsche Bank and NBK’s Kingdom office appear when a multinational parent wants a familiar name on a trade-finance line. Stored-value wallets remain useful for low-value payments and must be labelled as payment licences, not as banks, whenever a slide deck mixes “fintech” with “SAMA bank”. Islamic share is structural, not cosmetic: many family offices will not sign a conventional facility, which is why Al Rajhi, Alinma, Albilad and AlJazira belong on the first map a brand team draws.

    Local

    Tadawul-listed commercial and Islamic names — SNB, Al Rajhi, Riyad Bank, SAB, Banque Saudi Fransi, ANB, Alinma, AlJazira, Albilad, SAIB — that still hold most Kingdom deposits and facilities.

    • Saudi National Bank (SNB)
    • Al Rajhi Bank
    • Riyad Bank
    • Saudi Awwal Bank (SAB)
    • Banque Saudi Fransi
    • Arab National Bank (ANB)
    • Alinma Bank
    • Bank AlJazira
    • Bank Albilad
    • The Saudi Investment Bank

    Multinational

    Deutsche Bank’s Kingdom branch is the foreign wholesale name on this map; historic HSBC and Credit Agricole DNA now lives inside SAB and Banque Saudi Fransi as local licences.

    • Deutsche Bank — Saudi Arabia

    Regional

    GIB’s Saudi vehicle plus NBK and Bank Muscat branches — GCC parents that keep a SAMA office for groups already banked in Kuwait, Bahrain or Oman.

    • Gulf International Bank — Saudi
    • National Bank of Kuwait — Saudi branch
    • Bank Muscat — Saudi branch

    Islamic windows, digital banks & regulators

    STC Bank, D360 and Vision Bank as the three digital-bank charters, and SAMA as the supervisor that also polices stored-value and payment-service licences next door.

    • STC Bank
    • D360 Bank
    • Vision Bank
    • Saudi Central Bank (SAMA)

    Market structure

    What a healthcare treasurer actually buys from a Kingdom bank

    Working capital, letters of credit for imported devices, payroll under the wage-protection scheme, and card acquiring for outpatient cash collection are the four products BioNixus keeps hearing in Riyadh and Jeddah interviews. A specialty-drug importer that cannot open an LC at SNB or SAB will miss a tender even if the SFDA file is clean. A private group that wants a sharia facility will walk past a conventional term sheet and reopen the conversation at Al Rajhi or Alinma. Digital-bank apps help the SME clinic’s owner move money on Friday night; they do not yet stand behind a 200-bed fit-out. Keep those two jobs on separate slides.

    What is moving

    What is moving banking in Saudi Arabia

    Vision 2030 health and giga-project cash

    Cluster hospitals, industrial-city clinics and giga-project contractors still need multi-year riyal facilities that sit with SNB, Riyad Bank, SAB and GIB more than with a digital-only charter.

    Islamic share as a hard constraint

    Family offices and many listed groups will not sign a conventional loan, so Al Rajhi, Alinma, Albilad and AlJazira are a separate map, not a product footnote on a conventional slide.

    Three digital-bank charters now live

    STC Bank, D360 and Vision Bank take consumer and SME current accounts that used to wait in a branch queue, which changes who a pharmacy chain’s younger customers actually hold.

    Wage-protection and merchant rails

    A new clinic cannot hire or take cards until SAMA KYC, wage-protection and mada acquiring are live, so the banking conversation is an operations gate, not a treasury luxury.

    Payment licences sitting beside bank charters

    Stored-value and payment-service approvals look like “fintech banks” in vendor decks; they are not deposit-taking charters, and mixing the two classes is the fastest way to mis-brief a Kingdom launch.

    BioNixus fieldwork

    How BioNixus studies banks in Saudi Arabia

    The accounts above are the ones our field teams and analysts work with. What a brand team typically commissions from us in Saudi Arabia:
    • Hospital-treasurer interviews in Riyadh on how SNB, Riyad Bank and Al Rajhi split operating accounts, LCs and wage-protection payroll.
    • Pharmacy-chain merchant-acquiring walkthroughs in Jeddah on mada terminals and which local book actually settles the outpatient day.
    • Family-office and sharia-board conversations in Riyadh on why a conventional SAB or SNB term sheet is rejected in favour of Alinma or Albilad.
    • Founder-clinic interviews in Jeddah comparing STC Bank and D360 onboarding against a branch account at Bank AlJazira.

    Banks market research in Saudi Arabia

    Questions

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Who licences banks in the Kingdom?

    SAMA, the Saudi Central Bank. A digital-bank charter, a conventional commercial licence and a stored-value or payment-service approval are different classes. Read the licence, not the app icon.

    Are STC Bank and STC Pay the same thing?

    They are not. STC Pay was a wallet. STC Bank holds a SAMA digital-bank licence and can take deposits under that charter. Older contracts and consumer habit still blur the two names.

    Which banks matter for a hospital or distributor treasury?

    SNB, Al Rajhi and Riyad Bank first for riyal operating accounts and facilities. Then SAB, Banque Saudi Fransi and Alinma. Add a digital charter only if the question is consumer deposits or a founder-led SME account.

    Do Islamic banks replace SAMA supervision?

    They do not. Al Rajhi, Alinma, Albilad and AlJazira are SAMA-licensed banks that happen to run a sharia book. The supervisor is still SAMA; the product filter is the sharia board.

    What does BioNixus study about Saudi banks?

    Treasury and merchant-acquiring interviews with private hospital and pharmacy groups in Riyadh and Jeddah; how panels split conventional versus Islamic facilities; and whether digital-bank apps have reached payroll or still sit at the consumer edge.

    Does this page rank Saudi banks by assets or deposits?

    No. Names appear because they keep showing up in SAMA notices, Tadawul filings and BioNixus Kingdom interviews. Order on the page is a fieldwork map, not an asset league.

    Sources

    Data sources & methodology

    This directory aggregates publicly available company and channel facts — filings, brand sites, and BioNixus fieldwork in Saudi Arabia. It is an editorial snapshot of the accounts we study, not a share ranking and not a substitute for NielsenIQ, IQVIA, or another syndicated feed.

    Primary register: Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) — licensed banks, digital-bank charters and payment-service / stored-value classes, consulted 2026-09-05. Company classification (Local / MNC / Regional / islamic windows, digital banks & regulators) reflects ownership and role in Saudi Arabia, not size.

    • Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) licensed-bank and digital-bank communications
    • Tadawul disclosures of SNB, Al Rajhi, Riyad Bank, SAB, Banque Saudi Fransi, ANB, Alinma, Bank AlJazira, Bank Albilad and The Saudi Investment Bank
    • Public launch materials for STC Bank, D360 Bank and Vision Bank as SAMA digital-bank licensees
    • BioNixus Saudi corporate-banking, treasury and merchant-acquiring fieldwork, 2023–2026

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