Expansion Plans of NCB and Samba Merger Revealed; Full Islamic Retail Services to be Provided

Expansion plans of the merger of Saudi-based Shariah-compliant lender National Commercial Bank (NCB) and Samba Financial Group (Samba), which will create a new rebranded merged bank, Saudi National Bank (SNB), have been revealed by Ammar Al-Khudairy, Board Chairman of SNB. Speaking at a webinar organised by the Saudi Ministry of Finance, Al-Khudairy noted that all SNB branches would be fully Islamic on the retail level, and over 70% of loans incorporate banking would be Shariah compliant, when the rebranded outlets open on the 1st of April 2021.

Why it matters?

The combination of the two banks will result in major annual savings of around SAR 800 million, and SNB is planning to develop additional Shariah-compliant banking programmes as part of its goa...