Banking in Saudi Arabia, According to Consumers
Of all nine countries we surveyed for the 2024 iteration of our annual Consumer Banking Report, customers in Saudi Arabia reported the highest rates of favorability: a resounding 93% of customers reported being happy with their primary bank.
However, just because consumer sentiment is favorable doesn’t mean this is a time when banks should slow innovation. Consider the following:
What Consumers Said:
Despite high favorability, two-fifths (40%) of respondents are considering changing banks in the next 12 months.
The Opportunity:
Of those respondents considering leaving their banks, 30% say it’s due to their banks not offering products or services they find relevant, and 24% stated they were willing for a bank offering a better digital experience.
What Consumers Said:
Four in five (83%) of respondents stated they want their bank to provide better financial education.
The Opportunity:
One area banks can differentiate themselves is in providing personalized financial guidance. Both AI and generative AI (GenAI) should offer banks the opportunity to provide these services at scale. To that effect, banks in Saudi Arabia should find a large population of customers willing to embrace the use of AI in managing their finances, as only 32% of respondents stated they would not be comfortable acting on financial advice recommended by AI service (the lowest rate of any country surveyed).
What Consumers Said:
36% of respondents from Saudi Arabia use their bank’s app daily, and an additional 35% do so weekly. However, physical branches still play a significant role as 94% of respondents claimed to have used a physical branch in the last year, with 60% doing so at least monthly.
The Opportunity:
Banks will need to find innovative ways to remove friction from the digital services they offer to make experiences simple and seamless for consumers. For example, they could connect customers to a concierge when they encounter a challenge in a digital loan application or make personalized recommendations based on banking habits. Similarly, the physical branch will need to serve as a bridge between customers and technology, empowering employees to speak to and demonstrate the impact and ease of digital services.
The Bottom Line
As our 2024 consumer banking research demonstrates, customers in Saudi Arabia have high opinions of their banks. In addition, they are eager and willing to embrace new digital tools and experiences. Banks that wish to differentiate themselves from their peers and build a competitive advantage have an opportunity to do so through their digital services offerings. However, this will require modern system architectures capable of delivering those experiences and innovative digital and physical educational touch points to limit friction and drive adoption.
Read the full report to learn more.
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