1. Main commercial street.
    
2. Within a shopping center.
    
3. Inside airport lounges or border checkpoints.
    
4. A sketch of the site, its area, and its height.
    

• Obtaining a no-objection from the central bank* is required before renting the premises.

The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency was replaced by the name of Saudi Central Bank in accordance with The Saudi Central Bank Law No. (M/36), dated 11/04/1442H, corresponding 26/11/2020G.

1. Main Premises the area must be at least 64 square meters, with a setback of at least 5 meters from the entrance separating the staff counter from the customers. Exceptions apply to main premises within the central area of the Holy Mosques, where the area must be at least 36 square meters, with a setback of at least 3 meters from the entrance.
    

2. Branches Inside and outside the central area of the Holy Mosques, the area must be at least 36 square meters, with a setback of at least 3 meters from the entrance. 

   
   • Airports and border crossing points are exempt from these requirements, according to the conditions set by the relevant authorities.

1. Provide a 3D architectural design from an accredited engineering office in the Kingdom, including a visualization of the premises, internal layout, external façade, and compliance with the requirements outlined in the Financial Sector Security and Safety Guidelines in the Kingdom, as well as any other requirements from relevant authorities.
    

2. Supervision of the implementation must be carried out by the designing engineering office.

   
   • It is required to obtain a no-objection certificate from SAMA before proceeding with the implementation.

1. Wall coverings with modern designs that align with the activity.
    
2. Designate a window for serving women.
    
3. Provide all requirements for people with disabilities.
    
4. Set up a customer waiting area with air conditioning.
    
5. Prominently display instructions for customers to count their money before leaving, obtain receipts, and information about business hours. Additionally, include the location address on Google Maps.
    
6. Implement a mechanism for receiving complaints and evaluating customer satisfaction.
    
7. Install glass doors for the external entrance of the premises.
    
8. The signage for the premises must reflect the actual activity of the center, and the center’s name must match the commercial name as per the registration and license sign.
    
9. Insure all premises' assets against fire and theft with a licensed insurance provider in the Kingdom.
    
10. Subscribe to a national address specific to the center's location.
     
11. Standardize the identity of the branches to match the design of the main center.

1. Implement an automated system for performing accounting, financial, and supervisory operations, and for preparing reports and financial statements. The system should allow direct linkage between branches and comply with anti-money laundering law, including integration with international sanctions lists in both Arabic and English.
    
2. Provide modern cash counting and sorting machines capable of detecting counterfeit currency.
    
3. Install a screen to display notifications of all circulating currencies, connected to the automated system.
    
4. Supply high-quality printers and scanners in sufficient quantity for the number of employees.
    
5. Maintain a backup of data and automated systems outside the premises (backup hard-disk) in a secure location protected from theft or damage. Ensure that external parties (such as service providers) do not have access to the data or the ability to create copies.
    
6. Install appropriate protection software for computer systems.
    
7. Implement a digital system for organizing customers and managing the flow at service counters.
    
8. Create an official email address in the name of the center.

A. Objective

These instructions aim to establish the minimum procedures that money exchange and remittance centers must adhere to when receiving funds from customers through electronic payment methods, for the purposes of remittance or currency exchange.

B. Scope

These instructions apply to all money exchange centers and remittance centers affiliated with banks operating in the Kingdom and subject to the supervision and oversight of SAMA.

1. Money exchange centers and remittance centers affiliated with banks must allocate a separate bank account to receive financial transfers from customers for remittance and currency exchange purposes, provided that it is through one of the available electronic payment methods.
    
2. Financial transfers can only be received from customers of money exchange centers who hold a membership. The membership must have a unified reference number linked to the customer's ID, and the transfers received into the bank account must be in Saudi Riyals.
    
3. Money exchange centers are prohibited from receiving transfers from customers through banks or remittance companies outside the Kingdom for currency exchange purposes.
    
4. Money exchange centers and remittance centers affiliated with banks must verify the identity of the transferring customer or their representative through official documents explicitly authorizing them to do so.
    
5. Money exchange centers and remittance centers affiliated with banks are prohibited from transferring funds to customer accounts, except in cases where a transaction is canceled. In such cases, the exchange center must adhere to the following:

6. Money exchange centers and remittance centers affiliated with banks must agree in advance with customers who wish to transfer funds to the exchange center's account on transfer fees and exchange rates before completing the transaction, and this must be documented.
    
7. Money exchange centers and remittance centers affiliated with banks must educate customers who wish to transfer funds to the bank account about the necessity of specifying the transaction amount and the currency to be purchased during the transfer. The education must be provided, at a minimum, through instructional signs and membership terms.
    
8. Money exchange centers and remittance centers affiliated with banks must apply due diligence measures in accordance with the legal requirements outlined in the Anti-Money Laundering Law, the Law on Combating the Financing of Terrorism, and their implementing regulations, as well as comply with all relevant laws, instructions, and SAMA circulars.
    
9. Money exchange centers and remittance centers affiliated with banks must continuously work on developing their internal procedures in this regard, in a manner consistent with the nature and size of their operations and in line with best practices.

1.  To immediately initiate the completion of banking procedure transactions received from SAMA, without exceeding the following timelines:

   Transaction Category	Maximum Completion Time
   Judicial Banking Procedures	Two working hours
   Civil (General) Banking Procedures	Two working Days
   Security Banking Procedures	Five working Days

    

2. In the event that there is no relationship with the person (individual/legal entity) at the bank/company, an immediate response on the transaction must be provided.
    
3. SAMA may, at any time and whenever necessary, reduce the maximum completion time for some of the banking procedure transactions outlined in paragraph (1) of section (First), and banks and companies must complete the transactions within the specified periods.

1. Grant the departments and units that handle banking procedure transactions full authority to process transactions, execute directly on customer accounts, disclose information about them, and establish mechanisms to facilitate the swift and easy provision of banking documents related to these transactions.
    
2. Ensure sufficient human resources are available to process transactions during official working hours and to keep pace with the increase in workload.
    
3. Provide the necessary technical resources to comply with the provisions of this circular and to keep up with the increasing workload.
    
4. The units and their employees must operate independently and be fully dedicated to handling banking procedure transactions.
    
5. Ensure continuous monitoring of banking procedure transactions received by the bank/company and complete them within the specified timeframes to avoid delays, transaction backlogs, or carrying them over to the next day.
    
6. Develop plans to mitigate the risks of shortages in human resources or technical failures at the bank/company or any risks that may affect business continuity.
    
7. Emphasize to these units the confidentiality of the data and information included in banking procedure transactions, and prohibit the disclosure, publication, or sharing of such data and information with anyone for any reason.
    
8. The prohibition referred to in paragraph (7) of section (Second) above excludes cases where the inquirer has legal standing (a bank customer or their authorized representative) when inquiring about transactions related to enforcement on their accounts. These are exclusively transactions that affect the customer’s balance, such as (account and fund freezes, lifting of freezes, transaction bans, lifting of bans, compulsory deductions from accounts via transfers or issuing checks, confiscation of funds, account suspensions or lifting thereof). After verifying the inquirer’s status, they should be provided with the request number and date. In the case of judicial banking procedure transactions, in addition to the request number and date, the customer should be provided with the judicial decision number, date, and the court that issued the decision, and the customer should be directed to contact the relevant court.

1. Execute the content of the transactions on the bank/company system as required and within the timeframes specified in paragraph (1) of section (First) above, and fill in the fields in the SAMA Net system in accordance with their content.
    
2. The bank’s responses must be clear and reflect the actions taken by the bank/company.
    
3. In case the transaction involves original documents (original checks, original banking documents), they must be sent before the expiration of the time specified in paragraph (1) of section (First) above. The shipping number of the original documents mentioned in this paragraph should be included when responding to the transaction in the SAMA Net system. Each transaction’s original documents must be placed in a separate, sealed envelope, accompanied by an official letter addressed to the Manager of the Banking Procedures Division, and the envelope should clearly indicate the transaction information as referenced in the SAMA Net system.
    
4. Adhere to the regulations governing transaction processing, such as the Unified Processing Mechanism, the Advanced Processing Mechanism, the rules for opening and operating bank accounts, and other relevant systems and instructions.
    
5. Comply with the provisions of Circular No. 381000058769 dated 02/06/1438H regarding the mechanism for submitting reports or problems and malfunctions in SAMA Net system.

SAMA will verify the bank's or company's compliance with these instructions as follows:

1. Issuing alerts to the bank/company in cases of delays in processing transactions beyond the specified time frames, accumulation of transactions, or postponement to the following day. The bank/company must adhere to the corrective actions specified in the alerts sent by SAMA. Receiving these alerts indicates a failure by the bank/company to comply with the aforementioned instructions.
    
2. Banks and companies must provide SAMA with a quarterly report starting from the third quarter of the current year (2017G). This report should include a self-assessment of the bank/company's compliance with all requirements and regulations of this circular. The reports must be sent to the Director of the Banking Procedures Division within two weeks from the end of the quarter. Compliance with the specific format for these reports, which will be communicated later, is required.
    
3. SAMA, through its Performance Monitoring Team, will directly follow up on all transactions sent to banks and exchange companies to ensure compliance with the requirements outlined above.
    
4. Conducting field verification to assess banks' and companies' adherence to the provisions of this circular and conducting desk-based reviews by studying and analyzing reports, data, and observations, as well as monitoring the performance of banks concerning banking procedure transactions.