August 2020

The Saudi British Bank (SABB) Waafer saving account has won the Product of the Year Award for 2020 in Saudi Arabia. The award is based on a consumer survey conducted by POY, the largest consumer-voted award for product and innovation.

Waafer was launched last year as an alternative to traditional savings accounts. Customers are offered higher returns for making monthly installments against a saving plan. Unlike typical savings accounts, there’s no requirement to maintain a minimum balance and no large lump sum is needed to start saving.

Established over 30 years ago, Product of the Year “POY” guides consumers to the best products in the market through a transparent voting process for local consumers.

Naif Al-Abdulakareem, Deputy Managing Director Retail Banking and Wealth Management, said: “Our merger with Alawwal bank is our opportunity to become the best bank in the Kingdom. To be the best, you have to innovate and go beyond what everyone else is doing – and that’s exactly what we did with Waafer. Every day we challenge ourselves to do the right thing for Saudi consumers, so having them single us out for this award is really encouraging.”

Waafer allows customers to save by choosing an affordable amount to be debited monthly from their current account on a date of their choosing. As an added incentive, customers access higher rates of interest by selecting savings plans from one to three years. There are no set up costs for the account and it can be opened and managed completely online.

Al-Abulakareem added: “Waafer is about giving more people, more of a reason to save. In just one year, it’s already changing savings behaviour for the better. Customers are saving more than we anticipated, there’s an increase in couples and parents are using it to build a nest egg for their family - and perhaps most surprisingly, it’s now one our most popular services for women.”

Waafer account is the first of its kind in the Kingdom and is fully Shariah compliant. customers can open multiple accounts without paying additional fees. Customers can start saving from as little as SAR 100 a month.