Samba Bank has come a long way, since it was founded as The Saudi American Bank of Saudi Arabia, thanks to the cooperation of Citibank. Samba Bank’s presence is especially important in Dubai and in Pakistan where altogether 28 branches are located.
The roots of Samba Bank go back to the Fifties’ when Citibank has opened its first branch in Jeddah. Samba Bank, which is called today as Samba Financial Group, was founded in 1980 when Saudi Arabia was on the verge of nationalisation. With the new Islamic movement the Saudi Kingdom has made new laws and its nationalist politics have started to reappear in its new legislations among which one also said that no foreigner bank can operated in Saudi Arabia the ownership of which is not owned in at least 60% by one Saudi Arabian bank. This is called the “Nostrification” program, the result of which was, that several international banks pulled out of Saudi Arabia. Citibank however has agreed to contribute with the making and managing of Samba bank even with a tiny 20% ownership. In real, Citibank created SAMBA at first with a 40% ownership. Later the Saudi Kingdom has decided to change the name of SAMBA to Samba in order to take erase any America affiliation. This name change has happened in 2003. The merging of Samba Bank with the United Saudi bank has made one of the largest banks in the Middle East being that Samba itself. The latest purchase of the bank (at least officially) is the acquiring of the Crescent Commercial bank Limited and the Mashreq Bank branches in Pakistan, which is the second most important country in the life of the Samba Bank.
The branch office of Samba Bank in Dubai plays a very important role in the life of the bank. Ever since its opening in 2008 the Dubai branch creates one of the biggest incomes and investments in the life of the bank. Today Samba bank is the 4th largest bank in the Middle Eastern region. The Dubai branch office is located on Jumeirah Beach road and awaits especially commercial and corporate clients to make investments. Samba Bank offers overall Investment and Private Banking services, although it has a smaller Consumer banking unit as well. In 2011 Samba Bank has officially become one among the top 10 safest banks in the Middle East, being ranked on the fourth place.
As for its specific offers, Samba Bank offers a wide variety of credit cards to its high-profile customers; they work mainly with MasterCard credit cards. The highest profile credit card of the bank is the Samba Platinum Cash back credit card. Its Al Khair credit cards are those that represent the Islamic Banking and these are specifically issued for those customers who have their specific Islamic bank account. Apart from its financial and banking services, Samba Bank also offers life and personal insurance programs on its own for its clients.
Samba Bank is popular in Dubai among the high profile Muslim businesspersons and companies. Apart from its Dubai headquarters, you will be able to find the ATMs and the customer services of Samba Bank in the shopping malls and on Bank Road.