Swaied Al-Zahrani is the CEO of the Saudi Credit Bureau (SIMAH), the first and only licensed national credit bureau that offers consumer and commercial credit information services to respective members within Saudi Arabia.
SIMAH and the Bahrain Credit Reference Bureau (BENEFIT) recently signed an agreement to share credit information. It is the first cross-border exchange of its kind in the Middle East and North Africa region.
The agreement aims to improve the quality of credit portfolios, reduce credit risks, set maximum limits on credit-granting periods, and introduce guidelines for the ratio of loans to assets and between credit volume and the value of collateral.
After earning his bachelor’s degree in computer science from King Abdul Aziz University, Al-Zahrani acquired extensive experience within the banking industry, having served with Al-Rajhi Bank for more than eight years as AGM head of banking operations in 2010, head of administration in 2013, head of retail operations in 2014, and as AGM head of operations in 2016.
During his tenure with Al-Rajhi Bank, Al-Zahrani oversaw the bank’s global banking operations which included Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Kuwait, as well as managing a team of 450 staff members and being responsible for working closely with the department heads to manage the bank’s contracting and procurement, security, maintenance, documents management/archiving and support services activities.
Before being appointed CEO of SIMAH, Al-Zahrani served as vice president of development for Saudi Credit and Savings Bank in 2017, as well as being chief operations officer for the Social Development Bank in 2018.