As one of the four key pillars of the Bank of the Future (BOTF) Strategy, technology transformation continued to play a crucial role in Al Rajhi Bank’s overall progress and performance during the year in review. The Bank further deepened customer satisfaction and enriched customer experience with technology, convenience and accessibility, enabling customers to perform financial transactions from anywhere at any time, based on their evolving needs.

Al Rajhi Bank closed the year ranked number one in digital banking with an impressive Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 79 at the close of 2023, demonstrating the Bank’s resolute commitment to enhance its digital capabilities and provide a superior customer experience. The Bank’s Retail Banking App continued its evolution and standing as one of the Kingdom’s most trusted and utilised Mobile Apps, achieving a stellar 4.7-star average rating from a five-star scale on App Store, based on over 3 million ratings. As at the end of the year, 80% of all active Al Rajhi Banking customers were utilising the Bank’s Digital channels for their banking needs.

With 2023 marking the final phase of the BOTF Strategy, the Bank focused on achieving several more ambitious digitization objectives during the year in review; key among these was to leverage the Bank’s accumulated wealth of digital intelligence to provide highly personalised solutions to customers while also optimising cross-selling opportunities within the Bank as well as across the Group. A more sector-focused objective was to provide more digital solutions to the Kingdom’s growing MSME Segment, thereby improving Al Rajhi Bank’s standing as the sector’s Bank of choice.

Improved agility and efficiencies

Al Rajhi Bank had introduced the ‘One Minute Approach’ at the onset of the BOTF Strategy, enabling high-speed transactions and services in under a minute to enhance the customer experience. In 2023, the Bank continued to improve on this ‘One Minute Approach’ with a number of new features; this included introducing a Mobile PIN authentication and Biometric Login via FaceID; the SIRI voice command service to execute bill payments, transfers and card top-ups; intelligent fund transfers or suggestive fund transfers based on individual customer behavioural patterns; and the ability to avail pending actions or transactions on the customer’s home screen prior to finalising transactions.

In 2023, Al Rajhi Bank also continued to build on the success of its Branchless Banking initiative by delivering new features to enable more branch services digitally, and further simplify digital customer journeys. The new services launched during the year in review include the QR Cash feature for cardless cash withdrawals, feature to correct wrong transfer, to request for emergency travel cash, to change debit card PIN, special needs accessibility, and a feature for Family Finance Management by assigning specific tasks to dependents.

Enhanced digital solutions for retail and corporate banking

During 2023, a number of new technologies and tools were introduced to upgrade and further enhance digital solutions across both retail and corporate banking platforms. Working processes across both web portals and mobile apps were optimised through agile methodologies, closely collaborating with project and product stakeholders from across the Bank’s business units to ensure quality benchmarks alongside timelines and budgets are diligently met.

Retail Banking saw an increased demand in digitalisation with over 300 new or enhanced digital product and service deliveries in 2023. A number of new products and services for Retail customers were made available only via digital channels during the year in review; this included Personal Finance Management (PFM), 1V1 rewards promotion, SIRI voice command service as well Graduate School Financing facility. The Bank collaborated with multiple internal departments to delivering strategic projects such as the revision of SMS templates to resulting in cost savings, while also collaborating with subsidiaries for cross-selling opportunities such as the Smart Investment solution with Al Rajhi Capital. All efforts resulted in 95% of new Retail Customers in 2023 onboarding through digital channels.

On the Corporate front, over 200 digitization initiatives were launched during the review period. This, together with a timely revamp of the eBusiness Portal as well as the eBusiness Mobile App in 2023, resulted in a significant 23% YoY increase in the digital onboarding of Corporate clients.

Al Rajhi Bank recorded significant year-on-year growth across Digital Platforms for 2023

With fully digitalised and simplified card request applications, the Bank saw a significant YoY increase in cards issued through digital channels in 2023; a 102% YoY increase in revolving cards, a 38% increase in prepaid cards, and a remarkable 267% increase in charge cards was recorded. From the total credit and charge cards issued by the Bank during the year in review, 27% was requested online. There was a 60% recorded YoY increase in Debit Cards issued through digital channels during the reporting period.

Drawing from strengths to overcome challenges

During the year in review, Al Rajhi Bank alongside other banking and financial institutions in Saudi Arabia sought to comply with new, stringent anti-financial fraud regulations set by SAMA, as the need to safeguard sensitive customer data and digital services becomes paramount each year. Having revamped the Bank’s Anti-Fraud Function during the previous financial year to globally benchmarked standards that also comply with SAMA’s mandated Counter-Fraud Framework (CFF), Al Rajhi Bank was able to ensure that the anti-fraud controls contributed to further enhancing the digital customer experience.

With Open Banking redefining Saudi Arabia’s banking landscape by creating a more conducive environment for innovation by fintechs, the threat posed by such new market entrants has driven a new wave of innovation and digital transformation across Al Rajhi Bank, delivering new, innovative and high-performing digital banking solutions to market faster and ahead of potential competition.

A comprehensive marketing approach

Given the rapid pace of digitization of its products and services over the past few years – further accelerated during the ongoing BOTF Strategy Cycle - Al Rajhi Bank wished to ensure consumers were made aware of the advantages and benefits of the Al Rajhi digital banking platforms. This led to a comprehensive, multi-faceted marketing strategy launched by the Bank in 2023 to promote its digital banking offerings to a growing market across the Kingdom.

The marketing campaign emphasised:

• Convenience and security

Providing 24/7 access to digital banking services enhanced with multi-layered security features including biometric authentication and fraud protection.

• Personalisation

Leveraging data and analytics to personalise its digital banking experience for customers, offering intelligent, tailored recommendations, cross-sell and promotional offerings.

• Innovation

Emphasising how digital technologies are driving innovation across Al Rajhi Bank through campaigns that highlight innovative, upgraded and improved features and services

• Educating customers

Launching a series of educational campaigns to help customers learn more about its digital platform and its usability, and a series of fun, engaging social media videos explaining the benefits of digital banking to extend the Bank’s reach beyond the digital savvy consumer

• Influencer marketing

Collaborating with social media influencers to share their personal experience in using Al Rajhi Bank’s digital banking channels

• Rewards and Incentives:

Rewarding customers for using Al Rajhi Bank’s digital platform through the Group's makafaa loyalty programme

To make the results of the Marketing Campaign more impactful with continued user engagement, the notification engine was enhanced by adding deep links and images to notifications, redirecting users directly to target offers.

Awards and recognition

Evidencing the success of the Bank’s digitization drive, are a number of prestigious local and international awards that the Bank was recognised with during the reporting period:

• Best Digital Bank, Saudi Arabia 2023 by The Digital Banker
• Best Digital Banking Services, Saudi Arabia 2023 at the Global Banking & Finance Awards
• The EDT Digital Bank, Saudi Arabia 2023 at the Investor Awards
• Best corporate and institutional Digital Banks, Saudi Arabia 2023 by Global Finance
• Best Mobile Banking Application and UX, Saudi Arabia 2023 by Global Business Magazine
• Best Digital Banking Services, Saudi Arabia 2023 at the Global Economics Awards
• Best Trade Islamic Finance Bank in Saudi Arabia 2023 by Saudi Trade Finance Summit
• KSA Customers choice Trade Finance Bank in Saudi Arabia 2023 by Saudi Trade Finance Summit
• KSA Best Trade Digitized Bank in Saudi Arabia 2023 by Saudi Trade Finance Summit