Saudi Cabinet approves license for digital D360 Bank with SAR 1.65 bln capital

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz

The Saudi Cabinet approved the Minister of Finance, Mohammed Al-Jadaan, to issue a license to the local digital bank - D360 Bank (under established) – in line with Article No. 3 of the Banking Control Law, Saudi Press Agency reported.

D360 Bank will be established with a SAR 1.65 billion capital through a consortium of individual and corporate investors, with the Public Investment Fund (PIF) as one of the key investors. The digital bank will be led by Derayah Financial Co.

The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) has been actively engaged in keeping pace with the latest developments in the financial industry and in line with the objectives of the Financial Sector Development Program – one of the Saudi Vision 2030 programs – that seeks to develop the digital economy; enables financial institutions to support private sector growth and provides opportunities to new companies and start-ups. It is worth noting that two local digital banks were recently licensed to conduct banking business in the Kingdom.

The D360 Bank license - the third for a local digital bank - brings the total number of licensed banks to 35, including 11 local banks, three local digital banks and 21 foreign bank branches.

SAMA issued a number of licenses to various financial institutions, including those working in financial technology where it licensed 19 Saudi financial technology companies to provide payment services, consumer microfinance and electronic insurance brokerage.

In this regard, SAMA expressed readiness to receive license applications to engage in the banking business, which will help support the economy.

The central bank said it is working to support innovation while maintaining financial stability.