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Privacy Statement

Our commitment to you is respect for your right to privacy. Keeping your information and affairs in strict confidence is an integral part of our commitment to service excellence. This policy will help you better understand how BSF protects, collects, uses and discloses your personal information1 and your right to access your information. This policy applies to all BSF's clients.

Our Privacy Principles BSF respects the following principles when collecting, using, disclosing and protecting your personal information.

1. Identifying Purposes and Obtaining Your Consent

We identify the purposes for collecting personal information at or before the time it is collected. We obtain your consent before collecting, using or disclosing personal information, except where required by law.

2. Limiting the Collection, Use and Disclosure of Your Information

The personal information we collect is limited to what is necessary for the identification purposes.

We do not use or disclose personal information for purposes other than those for which it was collected, except with your consent, or where permitted or required by law. We retain personal information only as long as necessary for these purposes or required by law.

3. Keeping Your Information Accurate and Providing Access to Your Information

We take care in keeping personal information as accurate, complete and up-to-date as is necessary for the purposes for which it is to be used.

4. Protecting Your Information

We safeguard the privacy of personal information through adequate security measures as appropriate to the sensitivity of the information.

5. Addressing Your Concerns We are responsible for personal information under our control.

We have created departments to address your concerns.

Identifying Purposes and Obtaining Your Consent (Part 1)

We collect, use and disclose personal information* about you throughout our relationship so we can:

  • establish your identity;
  • protect you and us from error and fraud;
*When we refer to "personal information" or "information" it means information about an identifiable individual. This includes details such as your age, marital status, education, employment history, identification numbers, financial information and credit records. Personal information does not include most of the information that appears on a business card.

  • understand your needs and eligibility for products and services;
  • recommend particular products and services to meet your needs;
  • provide ongoing service; and
  • comply with legal and regulatory requirements.
If we need your information for any other purpose, we will identify that purpose. We obtain most of your personal information directly from you and through the products and services you use. Some information may be obtained from other sources. For example, we may verify some of the information you give us with your employer or your references. Generally, when we obtain information from someone other than you, such as a SIMAH, we record the source of that information.

We may review and analyze your applications, transactions and other personal information. We may do this to offer solutions that help meet your needs, and to develop new products and strategies to meet the needs of our clients. We may also do this to help us identify various types of risks such as credit, fraud, and money laundering.

We may monitor and record telephone calls between you and our representatives to ensure accuracy, security, service quality and for training purposes.
We use video surveillance in and around our branches, bank machines and other locations for the safety of our clients and employees, and to protect against theft, vandalism, damage to property and fraud.Video recorded images are kept for a period not less than what is required by regulation and for business or legal purposes. Any personal information collected is protected as provided in this policy.

When you apply for a product or service, we will require you to provide us the information as required by regulations. Depending on the product or service, this allows us to:
  • check your employment;
  • obtain a credit report and exchange information with a credit bureau;
  • offer you other products and services;
  • send you information about products and services by means of direct marketing;
  • share your information in confidence within the BSF group (provided it is legally permitted); and
  • obtain your information from, or disclose your information to, others that we tell you about.
If you have a product or service where ownership or liability is shared with others (for example, you have a joint account or you have a guarantor for your loan), we may share your information with them in connection with the product or service. Also, if you authorize us, we may provide your information to your lawyer, accountant, or others you've identified.

We may obtain your explicit consent in writing or through electronic means. Alternatively, your consent may be implied through an action you have taken or when you continue to use a product or service after we have notified you of a change. In some cases, we may be as required by law to obtain your explicit consent, in which case we ensure that we do so.

Refusing or withdrawing your consent will generally not affect your eligibility for BSF offers. However, if you refuse or withdraw your consent, we may not be able to provide you with a particular product or service.

Sharing your information within the BSF group

We may share information about you within the BSF group for legal and regulatory purposes, to manage credit risk and other business risks, and to ensure we have correct and up to date information about you, such as your current address, date of birth, etc.

We may also share your information to better manage your total relationship with the BSF group and enable other members of the BSF group to bring suitable products and services to your attention, such as mutual funds and brokerage accounts. BSF will share your information within the BSF group for these purposes unless prohibited by law or you tell us not to do so.

Exchanging information with SIMAH

When you apply for certain products and services, we disclose to you that we may exchange information about you with SIMAH. In order to maintain the integrity of the credit reporting system, we may periodically update your information with SIMAH as long as you have the product or service with us and for a period of time afterwards.

Limiting the Collection, Use and Disclosure of Your Information (Part 2)


While we collect various types of personal information from you and other sources, we limit the information to what is necessary for the purposes we've identified. The information we ask for depends on the product or service requested.

We do not use or disclose personal information for purposes other than those for which it was collected, except with your consent, or as described below. We may use your information to contact you through phone, email or direct mail to inform you about products and services BSF may be offering to meet your needs. However, you may ask us not to contact you but informing us in writing.

There are exceptions where we may collect, use or disclose information without consent:
  • If we use an outside supplier to do work for us. However, we are required to comply with Saudi Central Bank Outsourcing Rules for these activities;
  • If we are permitted or required by law; and
  • If we have to protect the interests of BSF.
We retain your information

We have record retention requirements that meet customer service, legal and regulatory needs. For these reasons, we may keep your information beyond the end of your relationship with us.

Keeping Your Information Accurate and Providing Access to Your Information(Part 3)

We take care to keep the information in our records as accurate, complete and up to date as necessary for the purposes for which it is used. However, we also rely on you to tell us when your personal information changes.

It is important to ensure your personal information at BSF is accurate and complete. This allows us to continue to offer the highest quality service and to suggest products and services that best meet your needs.

If you require information, please request this by contacting your regular BSF branch. We will ask that you put your request in writing and that you provide us with details to help us understand your request and conduct our search for your information. We will need you to confirm your identity before searching for or providing you with access to your information. We will let you know in advance if there is a charge.

It may not be appropriate for us to release certain types of information to you. Our records may contain information about other clients, information that is confidential or proprietary to BSF or information that is subject to legal privilege. Because we must protect everyone's confidentiality and legal rights, we cannot make this information available to you.

If you tell us that we have information about you that is obsolete or incorrect, we will update our records with the proper information.

Protecting Your Information (Part 4)

We limit access to your personal information and store it securely. In addition to the physical and electronic security devices we use to protect your information, we have security standards to protect our computer systems and your information from unauthorized use or access.

Our systems also protect your information when it is electronically transmitted, for example, between our data processing centers, a branch or banking machines. We regularly review our information security procedures and ensure that they remain effective and appropriate.

Employees who have access to your information are made aware of how to keep it confidential. Also, Code of Conduct that is signed by all employees requires the employees to treat the information with confidentiality and privacy.

We use contracts and other measures with our vendors and other service providers to maintain the confidentiality and security of your personal information and to prevent it from being used for any unauthorized purpose.

Access to your personal information is only given to those who require it to provide our products or services, or where permitted or required by law.

There are some simple yet very important steps you can take to protect your privacy:

Notify us immediately if:
  • Your BSF debit or credit card is lost, stolen or retained by a bank machine;
  • You believe someone has obtained your card number, PIN, password etc.;
  • You believe your personal or financial information has been compromised; or
  • You believe you have been the victim of identity theft, or that someone is using your personal information fraudulently.

Protect your PIN and Passwords

Your Personal Identification Number (PIN) and passwords are the keys to your accounts. You are the only person who should know them.

Never disclose your current PIN or passwords to anyone, or you could be liable for losses. No BSF employee will ever ask you verbally or through e-mail for this information. However, when using telephone banking, we may ask for some information to verify your identity. When you conduct transactions at a bank machine or at a point-of-sale, use your hand or body to shield the keypad from onlookers.

Regularly monitor your account activities

Promptly check your statements to verify all transactions have been properly recorded. If entries do not accurately reflect your transaction activities (e.g. if there are missing or additional transactions), contact BSF immediately.

Ensure your contact information is up-to-date

Making sure that BSF has your most up-to-date contact information will help protect your personal information from being misdirected.

Protect your privacy online

To protect your privacy online, you should clear your browser's cache after each session, use a firewall, and use up to date software to protect your computer from viruses and spyware. On our end, to protect you we monitor and track IP address and other information when you use our e-banking services.

If you receive a suspicious phone call, e-mail or letter, contact us.

If you think someone is impersonating BSF, or believe you have been the victim of a fraud or attempted fraud through telephone, mail or e-mail, call BSF Fraud Investigation Department 01-289-11877 immediately.

Addressing Your Concerns (Part 5)

We regularly monitor our procedures and security measures to ensure that they remain effective. BSF is committed to treating you with the greatest respect and consideration and providing the highest level of service. Even so, there may be a misunderstanding or times where you may feel you have been dealt with unjustly. Whatever the circumstances, our primary objective is ensuring your concerns are addressed. If you have any question or complaint talk to your branch officers or call FransiCare at 01-289-1867.

This Privacy Statement may be revised from time to time. We urge you to request and review this Privacy Statement frequently to obtain the current version. Your continued provision of personal information or use of our services following any changes to this Privacy Statement constitutes your acceptance of any such change. </ul.>