Saudi Arabia to Launch Bank to Exclusively Serve Financial Needs of SMEs

The cabinet of Saudi Arabia has approved the development of a new bank dedicated to serving small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Commerce released a statement on Twitter, stating, “The SMEs Bank brings together all financing solutions under one umbrella to enable the small and medium enterprises sector to access appropriate financing and achieve stability and growth."

Launched by Saudi Arabia's General Authority for Small and Medium Entreprises (Monshaat), the SMEs Bank will offer its services and products digitally almost exclusively, precluding the need to establish physical branches. This will allow them to cast a wide net in regards to the regions they service, and they will be able to build a portfolio of products with contributions from both international and local partners.

Since 2018 to the end of 2020, Monshaat claims to have built up 32.2 million riyals in financing guarantees through their financing guarantee programme for SMEs.