Banking

I could write a book on the banking system. Many banks are affiliated with a country, like Saudi Hollandi, SABB (Saudi British Bank) and some are just local. ATMs are absolutely everywhere and there are no foreign ATM fees. You can pretty much do anything you want at any ATM, no fees.

Your ATM card can be used in many places as a charge card. It is NOT a Visa or MC, just an ATM card and they don't have your name on them. If you input the wrong pin number, the card is immediately confiscated so it's actually a little safer than back home as you MUST use the pin, no choice. And as an added bonus it's a 6 digit pin. They of course also issue Visa or MC as part of your account. Credit limits are very high, I could buy a car with my MC. I kept thinking I had misread it, but nope, it really was that much.

There are no checking accounts here as we know them. No one uses checks for anything, even businesses. Absolutely everything is done by wire transfer. When I have to pay bills at work to vendors, it's all wire transfers. It's actually kind of nice as everything is instant and exact. You do have savings accounts and interest tends to be quite a bit higher than in the states. As part of your benefits, the company matches what you put into savings up to a certain percentage, so that's a nice little bonus.

You have a banker who knows you personnally. There is no opening an account unless you can prove you have a job and sponsor. The banker actually comes to your office and the paperwork is done while at work. If you have an issue, you deal with one person and he resolves your issue. I was in another country and had a problem and he handled it immediately. Amazing service.

If you ever have to physically go to the bank, there's a men's branch and a lady's branch. I know, even the banks are segregated, kind of weird. I almost always go to the men's branch as that is where my banker is and you do draw some stares when you step through the lobby. When you enter the bank, you stop at a computer kiosk and you request either teller service or office service. You are then issued a number and then you sit and relax until your number appears. No lines, kind of nice, although it does sort of remind you of a bakery at times.

I do all banking online including all my wire transfers and I like it. When people collect their first check they usually don't have all the paperwork needed to open an account so cashing a check is a trip for them. I normally take their check, deposit it in my account, make the wire transer(s) they need and then withdraw the remaining cash for them. Convoluted but the only way to do it.

This is most definitely a cash society but oddly enough, no one ever has change. It is not uncommon to go into a store, pay cash, and then the clerk opens up his wallet and makes change. Even more bizarre is when they tell you to wait a minute and they go to another store and the clerk from that store makes the change. You never get exact change back from anything. They just round it off to the nearest SRA. So if it's 46.30 item (no tax, another bonus) and you give them a 100 note, you'll get 54 back. I guess no one feels compelled to balance the drawer at the end of the day. Also, nothing is a fixed price except the grocery store. You can argue price anywhere. I've gotten really good at it.