Banking in KSA
My personal experience recommends that the foreign banks are far better and easier to deal with in terms of Customer Service, Englisg Language proficiency and also effective banking transactions.
SAMBA & SBB are by far the best. Hollandi, Fransi, and some of the other newbies come thereafter.
Dealing with the local banks for expats can be tough mainly because they simply do not take any pains to try and communicate in English nor do they want to assist the customer for his needs.
For foreign remittances, Western Union or SAMBA Speedcash are the most efficient. The foreign banks also offer very effective Internet Banking services that make it extremely convenient for the customer to carry out transactions from home.
I would also recommend that expats use the ATM's of their banks rather than those of other banks since if the card is swallowed or there is a dispute in the transaction it takes ages to get resolved. Ive been bitten hard by this once and I never use any other ATM except the ATM where I bank.
