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REGULATORREGULATOR

Saudi Central Bank (SAMA)

Supervises banking, payments, finance companies and credit information, and runs the regulatory sandbox that most fintech categories pass through first. Two sandbox cohorts a year.

13 ACTIVITIESSCOPE
1952ESTABLISHED

ACTIVITIES THIS REGULATOR SUPERVISES

Payments & acquiringDigital walletsBuy now, pay laterOpen banking servicesRemittanceDebt crowdfundingeKYC & identityDigital bankingSupply chain & invoice financeDigital savings groupsMicro-lendingCredit informationSpend management & corporate cards

WHY THERE IS NO ACTIVITY LIST

HOW IT GOT HERE

2020 — Published the digital-bank licensing framework, opening a route that had not existed before.2023 — Insurance supervision transferred out to the newly established Insurance Authority.2025 — Issued the first consumer finance licence to a BNPL provider, formalising a category that had grown up inside the sandbox.2026 — Moved open banking out of the sandbox into formal licensing on 26 March, issuing the first Major Payment Institution licence the same day.

HOW TO ENGAGE

3 ROUTES

Licensing enquiries go through the regulator’s e-services portal, not a general inbox. Pre-application questions are handled by the relevant supervision department.

LICENCE

Licence application

The standing route into a regulated activity. Submitted through the portal with a full application pack; expect at least two rounds of clarification before a decision.

WHAT YOU WILL BE ASKED FOR

  • Incorporated entity with the activity in its commercial registration
  • Committed capital evidenced, not merely pledged
  • Named compliance officer and governance structure
  • Full policy pack — AML/CFT, risk, outsourcing, continuity, consumer protection
  • Technology and information security assessment

VIA THE REGULATOR’S E-SERVICES PORTAL · TYPICAL TIMEFRAME 6–12 MONTHS TO DECISION

SANDBOX

Regulatory sandbox admission

A permitted period of live testing with real customers under agreed caps. For some activities it is the only available entry; for others it is optional and slower than applying directly.

WHAT YOU WILL BE ASKED FOR

  • A defined test scope with customer and volume caps
  • Stated exit criteria agreed up front
  • Reporting cadence you can actually meet
  • A plan for the capital step-up at exit

SANDBOX APPLICATION WINDOW — TWO COHORTS A YEAR · TYPICAL TIMEFRAME 2–4 MONTHS TO A DECISION

CONSULTATION

Public consultation response

Draft rules are published for comment before they take effect. This is the one point where the rule is still movable — and the one most operators skip.

WHAT YOU WILL BE ASKED FOR

  • A written response against the specific clauses
  • Evidence from your own operating data where you can share it
  • Submission before the deadline; late responses are not read

CONSULTATION PAPERS ARE PUBLISHED WITH A FIXED WINDOW · TYPICAL TIMEFRAME BY PUBLISHED DEADLINE