Bank branches in Saudi Arabia up to 1,954 in H1-15

The number of bank branches in Saudi Arabia rose by 40, reaching 1,954 in the first half of this year, compared with the same period last year, according to the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), the country’s central bank.

Al Rajhi Bank topped the list with 19 new branches, followed by Riyad Bank and Aljazira Bank, which opened 16 and four new branches respectively.

Arab National Bank (ANB), however, bucked the trend, closing three branches in the same period.

Saudi Arabia has 12 listed banks and 11 branches of foreign banks.

The foreign banks include Gulf International Bank, Emirates NBD, Bank BNP Paribas, National Bank of Kuwait, Deutsche Bank AG, Bank Muscat, National Bank of Bahrain (NBB), JPMorgan Chase, Pakistan National Bank, Ziraat Bank of Turkey, and State Bank of India.

By end of June, 2015, Al Rajhi had 520 branches, followed by the National Commercial Bank (NCB) at 344, and Riyad with 334.

Riyadh, the Saudi capital, had the most number of bank branches, followed by Makkah, the Eastern Province, Asir, and Al Qassim Region. The Northern Region had the least number of branches.

Average bank assets rose to SAR 1.13 billion per branch in the first half, compared to SAR 1.12 billion last year. Average deposits and loans increased to SAR 842 million and SAR 681 million respectively.  

Argaam Reports