1-1 The department shall be established by a decision of the bank's Board of Directors and shall report directly to the highest executive position in the bank, whether the CEO, General Manager, or Managing Director. In the case of temporary absence of this position, the department shall report to their deputy, and it should not be administratively linked to any other department within the bank.

1-2 The department shall be granted the necessary powers, financial, technical, and human resources support to perform its duties efficiently and with high quality.

1-3 The department must consist of at least three units (the bank determines the level of each unit based on its business volume and number of customers): the Complaints Handling Unit, the Quality and Performance Analysis Unit, and the Financial and Educational Awareness Unit.

1-4 Without prejudice to the provisions regarding the Requirements for Appointments to Senior Positions in financial institutions under the supervision of the Central Bank, the bank must obtain written approval from the Central Bank before appointing or assigning a manager to the department.

2-1 Protecting bank customers.

2-2 Handling customer complaints efficiently and with high quality.

2-3 Responding to any inquiries received.

2-4 Increasing customer satisfaction in the complaint resolution process.

2-5 Addressing and reducing the sources of complaints.

2-6 Enhancing customer awareness of the products and services offered by the bank.

2-7 Developing and updating policies and procedures in accordance with the best local and international practices in customer protection.

3-1 The department must develop the following policies:

- A policy for analyzing complaints and their patterns, addressing their causes and sources (Root Cause Analysis), and obtaining approval from the authorized person in the bank. This policy should also include measuring its effectiveness in addressing the sources of recurring complaints.

- A policy for protecting customer rights and ensuring their care throughout all stages of their interaction with the bank (e.g., marketing and sales procedures, post-sale service quality assurance procedures, complaint handling procedures, customer communication procedures, and credit advisory services procedures).

- A policy for awareness and financial education for the bank’s customers that aligns with the products and services offered by the bank. This policy should include at least the role of the employee responsible for providing a comprehensive explanation of the product or service to the customer, including all obligations associated with that service or product.

3-2 The department manager, or their delegate, must have full authority to make decisions regarding the resolution of complaints with amounts not exceeding SAR 20,000. The bank must establish policies and procedures to organize and monitor this process.

3-3 The department must develop and periodically update (at least once every two years) its operational mechanisms with relevant departments, including service level agreements and escalation processes, to ensure that complaints are handled within regulatory time frames. This mechanism should be technically activated and used to measure compliance, including escalation to the highest executive level.

3-4 To ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of handling complaints, inquiries, and requests, the department should include the following definitions in its internal policies related to customer rights protection and ensure compliance with them: (complaint, inquiry, request, customer), in line with the definitions provided in these regulations.

4-1 The bank must employ an appropriate number of staff in the department and its units, commensurate with the number of customers, products, services provided by the bank, and the volume of complaints. An analytical capacity study (Capacity Analysis) should be conducted at least once a year.

4-2 The department manager and staff must have sufficient knowledge and experience in customer care. They should, at a minimum, hold certifications in basic retail banking and credit advisory. The bank is also required to continuously train them through relevant programs suitable for their work, at least once a year. Additionally, the bank must ensure that department staff are well-versed in customer service skills, the bank’s products and services, and the regulations and instructions governing the relationship between customers and the bank.

1. The unit must provide multiple channels for receiving and handling complaints efficiently and effectively. This should enable customers to submit complaints according to their preferences with ease and at times that are convenient for them. These channels should be clearly displayed on the bank’s website homepage and various platforms. The channels must include at least:Free telephone line,Website,Mobile applications,Email,Branches

2. The unit must have systems and technical programs that support documenting and tracking the complaint handling process by date and time, allowing for visibility of its status and the actions taken. These systems must, at a minimum, include:

   2-1 Recording complaints and documenting their receipt, retaining records, and tracking them through all stages of processing. The customer should be provided with a primary reference number and the processing time frame via a text message on their mobile phone registered with the bank.

   2-2 The ability for the customer to register complaints directly in the electronic system, view the final result of the handling process and detailed updates, and receive necessary documents if required.

   2-3 Classifying complaints in the electronic system according to the bank’s products and services in line with the relevant central bank instructions.

   2-4 Enabling customers to evaluate their satisfaction with the complaint handling results automatically.

   2-5 Providing real-time report generation and the ability to automatically submit reports to senior management for performance monitoring.

   2-6 Facilitating automatic direct linkage to any databases created by the central bank for supervisory and regulatory purposes.

3. The unit must handle complaints within a maximum period of 5 working days from the date of receipt from the customer.
4. The unit must establish performance indicators for complaint handling and work on monitoring these indicators to achieve the desired goals. Indicators should, at a minimum, include:

* The central bank may review and adjust the rates of the above indicators from time to time.

1. The unit must review the quality of the complaint handling procedures and ensure they are processed efficiently and with high quality in accordance with relevant regulations and instructions. It should take corrective actions for complaints that have been handled incorrectly and implement necessary procedures to prevent recurrence.

2. The unit must continuously analyze complaint data and provide corrective plans to address the sources of complaints and measure their effectiveness. These reports should be documented and submitted to the administration manager to be forwarded to the CEO on a monthly basis.

3. The unit must ensure the accuracy of the reports and data contained within them.

4. The unit should submit quarterly reports to the administration manager for forwarding to senior management and the bank's board of directors, covering customer care issues. These reports should, at a minimum, include the following:

       - Performance measurement indicators for complaints registered in the "SAMACARES" System.

       - Performance measurement indicators for complaints received directly by the bank.

       - Compliance of relevant departments with the service level agreement.

       - Common complaints during the period.

       - Challenges faced by the administration and the approach to addressing them.

1. The unit must continuously raise customer awareness through all available bank channels and implement annual plans for financial awareness and education. These plans should include, at a minimum: products and services and their risks, fraud, savings, and financial planning.
2. The unit must continuously inform customers about all channels for submitting complaints and their right to raise complaints and inquiries. It should also inform them about the possibility of requesting credit advisory services, in cases where the bank is not obligated to provide a credit advisor.
3. Unit employees are prohibited from contacting customers for the purpose of marketing the bank's products and services.

4. The unit should submit semi-annual reports to the administration manager for forwarding to the CEO, which should include the following:
    

   - The number of contacts received by the unit.

   - The types of consultations provided to customers.

   - Measurement of customer satisfaction regarding the appropriateness of the consultations provided.