Saudi Arabia's banks are bracing themselves for a period of
intense competition as they fight to win a bigger share of a
rapidly expanding but increasingly sophisticated retail market. To
meet this challenge, they have rolled out or are preparing to
launch new products, particularly for Islamic and internet banking,
and to develop personal and mortgage lending.
"The banking sector is coming out of a phase, which has lasted
slightly more than a year, when there was a lot of liquidity and
not much action on the assets side. We are beginning to get into a
situation where the demand for funding is picking up from both
corporate and personal customers," says Mike de Graffenried,
managing director of Saudi American Bank (SAMBA).
The 10 commercial banks in the kingdom are well placed to meet
this demand. They are well regulated, among the best capitalized in
the developing world,...
