All Credit Agreements, application forms, Guarantee Agreements, repayment schedules and other documentation related to Credit and Charge Cards should be in Arabic. An English version of all such documents should be available and provided to a Cardholder if required by them. In the event of a conflict between the two versions of these Regulations, the Arabic version prevails.

The Cardholder rights and responsibilities relating to the Credit or Charge Card shall be recorded in the “Cardholder Agreement” that shall meet Saudi Central Bank information disclosure requirements, as provided in Section 5 - ‘Information Disclosure’ of these Regulations.

All Card Issuers will fully comply with the international rules and procedures agreed with the relevant Card Association (e.g. Visa Rules / MasterCard Rules / American Express Business and Operational Policies). Where there is any overlap with any  Card Association rules, the Articles in these Regulations will take precedence.

A Card Issuer may not issue a Credit or Charge Card without receiving a signed application from an applicant.

The decision to issue new Credit or Charge Cards requires an effective Risk management strategy to enable an assessment of the eligibility and affirmation of the suitability of the applicant, unless an applicant already holds a Credit or Charge Card(s) issued by the Card Issuer that meets the card issuing requirements provided in Section 2 -‘Card Issuing’ of these Regulations.

A Card Issuer shall not issue a Credit or Charge Card to any person who is below 18 years of age (Hijri), except in the case of a Supplementary card as detailed in Section 2 - ‘Card Issuing’ of these Regulations. University students are exempt from this Article, if they can:

a)    Provide a Co-signee that meets the card issuing requirements.
b)    Provide independent annual income verification and can meet the obligations of the Credit or Charge  Card.

When assessing applications, Card Issuers must perform the following:

The assessment of a request for a Credit or Charge Card should be based on the applicant's ability to meet all the obligations under the Credit or Change Card Agreement, and entity credit policy.

A Card Issuer must provide all first time Cardholders with access to free credit advisory services, such as financial education and awareness, before activation of the new Credit  or Charge Card can be completed.

If the issue of any new, replacement, or supplemental Credit or  Charge Card is rejected to a new applicant or existing Cardholder, the Card Issuer must disclose the rejection  reasons within I week from the date of the rejection decision.

The minimum Gross Salary eligibility for new Credit Cardholders is set at SAR 24,000 per annum for bank customers and SAR 30,000 for non-bank customers. Where salary or pension is not used as the main basis of assessment, including for university students, the decision may be based on relationship balances and on the basis of demonstrated good behavior as evidenced in a credit bureau report obtained from a Licensed Credit Bureau.

It is the Card Issuers responsibility to make sure that their card manufacturer meets Saudi Central Bank and the Card Association’s standards. A manufacturer must therefore make sure that they keep Cardholder data and cards in a secure environment. Card Issuers must meet and maintain adequate levels of security when they store, process and transmit Cardholder data, in accordance with Card Association rules as a minimum and with Saudi Central Bank circulars as a mandatory obligation.

Additional features (such as credit or default insurance products etc.) that require additional payment which are optional to the primary product features of the Credit or Charge cards, must not be added on or embedded to the Credit or Charge Card account and are to be clearly represented as an  “Optional Feature”. A Cardholder must indicate his/her approval to obtain such services before their inclusion in the account. Card Issuers must also clearly disclose all fees and Term Cost for these services to the Cardholder within their offer for such Optional Features.