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Clients’ Protection Principles

Clients’ Protection Principles

Fair dealings/treatment

The financial institution must deal fairly with clients at all stages of their relationship, and make that fair handling an integral part of its culture, and must equally give special care and attention to clients with low-income and education, the elderly, and people with disabilities of both genders

Disclosure and transparency

The financial institution shall ensure the clarity and ease of understanding of the information related to the services and products provided to clients, and make sure such information is up-to-date, clear, concise, accurate, non-misleading, and easily accessible, especially its main terms and highlights. Information shall also include clarification of the rights and duties of each party, details of prices and commissions charged by the financial institution and the taxes resulting therefrom, exceptions and fines, types of main risks and benefits, the mechanism of termination of the relationship and its consequences, in addition to providing information on alternative products and services provided by the financial institution

Educating and raising awareness

The financial institution should develop appropriate programs and mechanisms to develop the knowledge and skills of customers, raise their awareness levels, enable them to understand the basic risks, help them take rational and effective decisions, and help them know the right source to obtain information when needed.

Work ethics and conduct

The financial institution must work in a highly professional manner that reflects on the interest of the clients and throughout the relationship between them, where the financial institution is primarily responsible for protecting the interests of customers. The financial institution must also provide the necessary human resources to achieve the above, carry out its work, serve its clients in all regions of the Kingdom in which it is located, provide affiliated centers to serve its clients and documented channels of communication with them

Protection from fraud and misuse

The financial institution must protect its clients’ assets from fraud and develop technical control systems with a high level of efficiency and effectiveness to reduce and detect fraud, pilfering or abuse and take the necessary action if they occur, in accordance with the relevant regulations and instructions

Protection of data and information confidentiality

The financial institution is committed to establishing appropriate mechanisms in accordance with the relevant applicable regulations, instructions and policies to protect the financial, fiduciary, insurable and/or personal information and data of clients and to maintain their privacy, provided that they include all the rights mentioned in the Personal Data Protection System, and to develop high-level control systems that include appropriate mechanisms that determine the purposes for which the data was collected.

Complaints’ resolution

The financial institution must provide an appropriate mechanism for clients for the submission of complaints and make sure the mechanism is clear and effective, and the complaint must be studied and necessary measures and procedures should be followed to address it fairly and effectively, and provide the best and most appropriate solutions without delay in accordance with the relevant regulations and instructions

Competition

The financial institution must allow clients the opportunity to search and compare the best services and products and their providers easily and clearly, and should provide the best products, services and prices to meet the needs and desires of the clients, promote innovation and maintain the quality of services and products

Outsourcing/outsourced services

When outsourcing any of the services that involve dealing with clients, the financial institution shall ensure that the third party complies with the requirements of these principles and rules – where applicable – and that it acts in the interest of its clients and assumes responsibility for their protection, and the financial institution assumes responsibility in the event that the third party assigned with the tasks does not comply with the laws, regulations and instructions in force in any of the operations and tasks assigned to it in accordance with the relevant instructions issued by the Central Bank.

Conflict of interests

he financial institution must have a written policy on conflicts of interest, and must ensure that policies that help detect potential conflicts of interest exist and are being applied, and when a potential conflict of interest arises between the financial institution and any other party it must be disclosed to the responsible party

Code of Conduct

  1. The financial institution should encourage clients to read the contracts and their annexes, the initial disclosure form, terms and conditions, documents and any other document that requires the consent or signature of the client, and verify their knowledge and awareness of what is stated therein, in addition to providing updated terms and conditions through the electronic channels of the financial institution
  2. The financial institution must provide information and/or documents to clients clearly and accurately, avoiding misinformation, fraud and fraud
  3. The financial institution must include all terms and conditions in the application form for the product or service, provided that the warning statements include the potential risks when using the product or service other than agreed. All terms and conditions must be drafted in Arabic in a simplified, clear and non-misleading manner, with an English version provided upon request by the client
  4. Without prejudice to Rule No. (8) of this Section, the Financial Institution shall inform the Client through a text message to his mobile phone approved by the Financial Institution in addition to other documented channels of any change to the Terms and Conditions (if the Agreement and the relevant instructions authorize such change) at least 30 days before the entry into force of such change, and the Financial Institution shall provide the possibility of objection in the event of the Client’s disapproval after receiving the notice by one of the Documented Channels
  5. The financial institution must provide the client with the initial disclosure form containing information on products and services and details of the calculation of fees, commissions and the cost of the term – if any – when concluding the contract or agreement and obtain an acknowledgment from the client confirming reading, understanding and approving its content, and the disclosure form must be in easy, simplified and clear language/way
  6. The financial institution must standardize the font size used (minimum size 14) and be clear and legible in contracts and their annexes, including; initial disclosure forms, terms and conditions, documents, exceptions, and any other document that requires the signature or viewing of the client, and the signature of the client (whatever the form of signature) must not be requested on any document that is empty or has not been fully completed, and the financial institution must protect and save the documents and signatures of clients
  7. The financial institution shall provide the client with a hard or electronic copy – as preferred by the client – of all documents related to the products or services immediately upon obtaining them, and take an acknowledgement of receipt from the clients if provided to them in paper, including but not limited to: the contract and its annexes, insurance policies, terms and conditions, schedule of fees and commissions
  8. The financial institution shall not make any change – increasing the fees and commissions – that clients have to pay after obtaining the service or product and signing the contract, agreement or the like, except for fees and commissions related to another party provided that they are related to the client’s use of the funded asset, and the client must be notified of this when the contract is concluded
  9. The financial institution must place a list of fees and commissions (including third-party fees) in a clear location in its premises and branches and state it on its websites
  10. When the client will request for a service or products, the financial institution must be adhered to following:
    a) Send a text message to the client (immediately after placing the order) mentioning at least: the address of the request, the reference number of the  request , the expected date of execution, the toll-free number allocated for inquiries
    b) Notify the client of the acceptance or rejection of the request via text message up to a maximum of (3) working days, and in case of rejection, the notification must include the reason for the rejection in addition to the mechanism of objection to the rejection

            Exception from Paragraph B: the insurance claims notice must be in writing, and determining the notice period based on the relevant instructions, and must include at least the following:
            – When fully or partially accepting a claim: the amount of the settlement, clarification of how to reach the settlement amount, justification when reducing the settlement amount, justification when reducing the settlement amount or accepting the claim in part
            – When rejecting the claim: the reason for the rejection, the supporting documents of the rejection decision in case it is requested from the client
  11. The responsibility of the clients’ data and information protection, and to maintain their privacy, is on the financial institution, whether the information and the date are saved or with a third party, and the financial institution must adhere to the following :
    b) Obtain the signatures of all permanent or temporary employees and third-party employees on the Non-disclosure agreement related to clients’ data and ensure that they do not disclose personal information to clients and prevent access to it and limit it to authorized persons only, whether they are on the job or after leaving their jobs
    c) Preserve the confidentiality of client data in accordance with the relevant regulations and instructions
  12. The financial institution must ensure that all electronic channels are available and securely, and in the event that clients suffer a direct loss as a result of the breach of these channels and/or their security failures, they must be compensated for any losses resulting from this, and the following must be adhered to:
          a) Application/implementation of the highest standard for identity verification when accessing electronic services, and taking the necessary measures to reduce electronic fraud
          b) Including the purpose for which text messages with the verification code were sent to clients, like for example: identification of a beneficiary, reset password, account login, transfer of money
  13. The financial institution must verify the continuity of work of its systems and services and ensure their readiness to meet the needs of clients at all times, and the financial institution should not benefit from any refunds that may arise due to a technical error or malfunction and must return them to the affected client without delay, and clients who have experienced the same error within (5) working days and without waiting to claim it, and the defect or malfunction must be fixed according to the requirements of business continuity, and must be communicated with the affected clients informing them of the error and corrective actions taken
  14. The financial institution must ensure that the tasks of all employees are performed efficiently and effectively and that they all follow the behaviors and ethics, with utmost professionalism, with current or potential clients at all times, in addition to training front-line employees who deal directly with clients periodically and work to obtain the necessary professional certificates to familiarize themselves with the skills of dealing with clients, the products and services provided to clients and the relevant instructions issued by the Central Bank
  15. Without prejudice to the relevant instructions, the financial institution shall follow up the frontline employees through visits (periodic – confidential) to the branches, call centers and collection staff, including third-party employees, to ensure that best practices are followed when dealing with clients, and the instructions issued by the Central Bank as well as  and the products and services provided by the financial institution are observed, with semi-annual reports to be submitted to the senior management to monitor the performance of employees
  16. The financial institution must commit to continuously educating clients through all its channels, including at least: products and services and their risks, the mechanism of dealing with debt and default, fraud, dealing with unlicensed financial or investment companies or institutions, savings, education and financial planning
  17. The financial institution must provide multiple channels to receive complaints, inquiries and requests so that clients can submit complaints as they deem convenient and with ease at times convenient for them and in line with the nature of the financial institution, provided that they include at least: toll-free phone, branches and/or website, smartphone applications, e-mail
  18. The financial institution should place the complaint handling mechanism in a clear place in the financial institution’s building, in all its branches, on its website and smart phone applications
  19. The mechanism for handling complaints and inquiries should include the following:
    a) Complaint and/or enquiry submission procedures
    b) Document the receipt of the complaint and/or inquiry and provide the client with a main reference number and the specified period of processing via text message to his mobile phone approved by the financial institution
    c) Provide the client with the competent department to address complaints and/or inquiries through which the client can communicate with the financial institution when needed to follow up the complaint and/or inquiry
    d) Document the channel used to communicate with the client and keep its records for a minimum of five years
    e) Handle complaints and/or inquiries received directly to the financial institution in accordance with the instructions issued by the Central Bank
    f) Provide the client with the results of the complaint and/or inquiry in detail and with the necessary documents that support the correctness of the handling through one of the documented channels, in addition to responding to their inquiries clearly and with high quality
    g) In the event that the client is not satisfied with the outcome of the processing of his complaint and wishes to escalate it, he must be provided with the mechanism used to escalate to a higher level within the financial institution or direct him to the competent authority as he prefers
  20. The financial institution should develop Key performance indicators to measure the handling of complaints received directly to the financial institution, including (measuring client satisfaction, measuring the quality of complaint handling), and raise/submit the results of the indicators quarterly to the highest executive position in the financial institution
  21. The financial institution must provide within 5 working days the documents based on the client request:
    a) A copy of the original forms of any service or product
    b) A copy of the updated terms and conditions of the product or service
    c) A Copy of contracts with the client, including warranties and guarantees
    d) A copy of the insurance policy if available/any
  22. The financial institution must provide a toll-free phone number that the clients can call from inside the Kingdom from a landline and mobile phone, in addition to a phone number to call from outside the Kingdom (for banks and insurance companies) to submit complaints and inquiries, provided that the toll-free number is published on the homepage of the website of the financial institution clearly to the client in addition to all other channels
  23. The financial institution must take into account humanitarian situations and its social responsibilities when dealing with clients who have emergency financial difficulties and find appropriate solutions for them before starting to take legal action against them
  24. The financial institution and its employees must not use or display any sort or form of discrimination while dealing with potential and existing clients and avoid any unfair treatment which is based on their race, gender, color, age, disability, marital status
  25. The financial institution must publish the principles and rules of protecting the clients of financial institutions on its website and in a clear place for the client
  26. The financial institution must place the working hours of the branch in the main entrance of the branch and on its website in addition to the hours of providing telephone services