Saudi Awwal Bank
Riyadh-based listed bank, formerly SABB, that merged with Alawwal Bank. It serves personal, SME, corporate and private customers and reported SAR 8.5 billion net profit for 2025.
Industry: Banking | Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | Founded: 1978
About Saudi Awwal Bank
Saudi Awwal Bank, known as SAB, is a Riyadh-based bank and a listed joint stock company incorporated in Saudi Arabia. Its website gives paid-up capital of SAR 20.5 billion and says the Saudi Central Bank licenses and supervises it. SAB serves personal, small and medium-sized enterprise, corporate and private banking customers and has an investment arm, SAB Invest. It describes itself as a partner of the HSBC Group.
The bank traces its origins back more than 90 years. Wikipedia records that it was founded on 21 January 1978 as the Saudi Arab British Bank, known as SABB. SAB's website says its merger with Alawwal Bank was completed on 14 March 2021, while Wikipedia gives 16 June 2019 as the date of the legal merger. SAB says it will mark its centenary in 2026. Lubna S. Olayan chairs the board, and SAB lists Audit, Board Risk, Executive, Nomination and Remuneration, Shariah, and Technology and Digital committees among its governance bodies.
SAB offers current, savings and investment accounts, credit and debit cards, home and personal finance, and wealth management. For businesses it lists Islamic finance, the Kafalah programme, working capital financing, trade and payments services, and American Express cards. Customers can use online banking, a mobile app, phone banking, branches and ATMs.
In 2025 SAB opened a financial services innovation centre and was named Best Bank in Saudi Arabia by Euromoney. It reported being first in the Middle East and Africa to obtain ISO 20400 certification for sustainable procurement from BSI, and issued two green-labelled bonds worth 1.9 billion dollars. Its sustainable finance portfolio reached SAR 45 billion.
For 2025 SAB reported net profit after zakat and income tax of SAR 8,452 million, up 5 percent, on operating income of SAR 14,724 million. Net loans were SAR 299 billion, customer deposits SAR 323 billion and equity SAR 79 billion at year-end. Return on tangible equity was 14.5 percent.
TechScoop reported in June 2026 that SAB had committed capital to STV's Emerging Tech and AI Fund, which is roughly 100 million dollars in size.
Leadership
- Lubna S. Olayan, Chair of the Board of Directors
- Tony Cripps, Managing Director (reported by Wikipedia)