SME Bank
Saudi Arabian state development bank established in 2021 to expand SME financing through partners, guarantees and digital channels, including the Kafalah guarantee programme. It operates under the supervision and support of the National Development Fund.
Industry: Development bank for SME financing | Location: Saudi Arabia | Founded: 2021
About SME Bank
SME Bank, formally the Small and Medium Enterprises Bank, is a Saudi Arabian development bank that supports financing for small and medium-sized enterprises. Its website says it aims to be an umbrella for SME financing solutions, covering debt financing, equity financing and loan guarantees, delivered through partners and digital channels. Arab News reported in 2022 that it works digitally without branches and is affiliated with the National Development Fund.
The bank was established by Council of Ministers resolution 376, which its website dates to 4/7/1442 in the Hijri calendar, or 16 February 2021. In November 2022 the cabinet approved the SME Bank System and the transfer of the Kafalah loan guarantee programme to the bank from Monsha'at. Yousef bin Abdullah Al-Benyan has chaired the bank since February 2023 and was reappointed in October 2025 for a further three years. Ibrahim bin Hamad Al-Rashed became chief executive on 23 March 2025; he previously led the Social Development Bank.
The bank's programmes include indirect lending through partner banks, non-bank financial institutions and debt crowdfunding platforms, the Kafalah financing guarantee programme, and Funding Gate, a platform that connects financing institutions with SMEs. Its website names Arab National Bank, Al Rajhi and Riyad Bank among its partners. TechScoop describes Saudi Venture Capital Company, a state-backed fund of funds, as a subsidiary of SME Bank under the National Development Fund.
The bank's stated targets are to raise SMEs' contribution to gross domestic product to 35 percent by 2030 and SME financing to 20 percent of the total loan portfolio.
In August 2026 the bank said Kafalah had passed 100 billion riyals in financing guarantees, benefiting more than 28,000 SMEs and enabling more than 140 billion riyals of financing. It said guaranteed facilities made up 8 percent of the 489 billion riyals of SME credit in the kingdom at the end of the first quarter of 2026, and that 51 medium-sized enterprises in the programme had moved to the Nomu parallel market. The bank operates under the supervision and support of the National Development Fund.
Leadership
- Homam Abdulaziz Hashem, Deputy Chief Executive Officer