March 2022

The Saudi Company for Exchanging Digital Information (Tabadul) announced that it has successfully integrated its digital platform Wthaq to the Saudi British Bank (SABB), enabling the Bank to issue, manage, and verify bank guarantees automatically for its clients. The step is part of a broader initiative to link the Platform to all national and foreign banks in the Kingdom.

The announcement was made by Tabadul’s Products and Projects Chief Officer, Abdullah Bin Saad Al-Shohayb, and SABB’s Deputy Head of Corporate and Institutional Banking, Yasser Al-Barrak at Tabadul’s headquarter Riyadh. The ceremony, which was attended by representatives of both parties, saw the issuance and verification of the first SABB’s e-bank guarantee via Wthaq.

The integration aims to enable SABB clients in the government and private sectors to benefit from the "Wthaq" platform's services and to adopt it as part of the bank's internal system, by acting as an electronic intermediary between the customer and the bank in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, electronically issuing letters of guarantee and verifying their entry into methods based on the data and information provided, additionally to regulating operations, standardizing their methods, and automating them more securely.

Mr. Abdullah Bin Saad Al- Shohayb commented on this and said: "We are pleased to welcome SABB Bank to our list of partners who will benefit from the Wthaq platform, which has been approved by SAMA and works strategically. To fully automate, control, and standardize bank guarantees in Saudi Arabia, more safely and securely, in addition to providing statistical data and reports to the appropriate authorities, so contributing to an increase in the level of satisfaction for all beneficiaries”.

For his part, Yasser Al-Barrak, expressed his satisfaction with the bank's connection to the "Wthaq" platform, stating that it will enable the bank to benefit from the platform's advantages and services, thereby enhancing the bank's distinguished electronic and digital services. The bank exists for the benefit of its clients and contributes to transaction efficiency by saving time and effort, particularly in the area of bank guarantees, issuing and confirming them to make transactions safer and more secure. He reaffirmed SABB's commitment to keeping up with the Kingdom's digital transformation and assisting in the achievement of Vision 2030's goals.

About Wthaq

The first-of-its-kind in the region, Wthaq is an online platform for managing and automating bank guarantees. Launched by Tabadul and supervised by SAMA, the Platform can seamlessly integrate with bank systems enabling users (both issuers and beneficiaries of public and private sectors) to view, issue, modify, verify, or cancel bank guarantees online. The Platform can significantly improve process efficiency; save time and effort; fully automate and centralize information and procedures; increase the satisfaction of all stakeholders; provide insightful reports and information; enhance data security; reduce the risk of fraud by improving coordination between involved parties; while providing a centralized database for all guarantee-related details and transactions.