KYC in Saudi Arabia

Know Your Customer requirements in Saudi Arabia are set by the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) for banks, fintechs and insurers, and the Capital Market Authority (CMA) for securities firms under the Anti-Money Laundering Law and its implementing regulations, together with SAMA's AML/CFT rules. Regulated firms verify customers using the National ID for citizens, the Iqama (resident ID) for residents, and passports for visitors, screen them against sanctions and PEP lists, assess risk and keep records for inspection.

Regulator and legal framework

KYC and AML obligations in Saudi Arabia are supervised by the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) for banks, fintechs and insurers, and the Capital Market Authority (CMA) for securities firms. The primary legislation is the Anti-Money Laundering Law and its implementing regulations, together with SAMA's AML/CFT rules, aligned with FATF recommendations and supplemented by regulator instructions on customer due diligence, record keeping and electronic onboarding.

Identity documents used

Customers are typically verified with the National ID for citizens, the Iqama (resident ID) for residents, and passports for visitors. Automated verification checks the document's authenticity, reads its data, including non-Latin scripts where present, and matches the holder biometrically with liveness detection.

Points to note

• SAMA has issued rules enabling digital onboarding with document and biometric verification.
• Regulated firms are expected to keep customer data within the Kingdom in many cases.
• The Personal Data Protection Law (PDPL) governs processing of personal and biometric data.
• Arabic-script documents and names require OCR and matching tuned for them.

How IDWise supports KYC in Saudi Arabia

IDWise configures journeys, document rules, screening lists and retention per market, with deployment and residency options on AWS, GCP and Azure or a hybrid model with data stored on customer premises.

Frequently asked questions

Related terms