Riyad Bank vs SNB: How Their Statements Compare
Both are conventional Saudi banks with Islamic windows. Their PDFs look similar at first glance — the differences live in the headers, columns, and merger history.
Riyad Bank
Saudi Arabia
Riyad Bank is one of the oldest and largest commercial banks in Saudi Arabia, established in 1957. It provides a comprehensive range of corporate, retail, and investment banking services. Riyad Bank's PDF statements are professionally formatted with detailed transaction records and account summaries.
Saudi National Bank (SNB)
Saudi Arabia
The Saudi National Bank (SNB) is the largest bank in Saudi Arabia by assets, formed in 2021 through the merger of National Commercial Bank and Samba Financial Group. It serves millions of retail and corporate customers with a full suite of conventional and Islamic banking products. Statements are clean, well-formatted PDFs with comprehensive transaction detail.
Both conventional, both with Islamic windows
Riyad Bank was founded in 1957 and serves around 5M customers through 340 branches. It is especially strong in government-linked corporate banking and trade finance. SNB was formed in 2021 from the merger of National Commercial Bank and Samba Financial Group, making it Saudi Arabia's largest bank by assets with 14M+ customers and 500 branches.
Both run conventional and Islamic-window products. The difference is institutional: Riyad Bank has a continuous identity dating to 1957, while SNB is a young merged entity with legacy NCB and Samba customer files still being unified. That shows up in the statements.
How the PDFs differ in practice
Riyad Bank opens with a summary page — opening balance, closing balance, period totals, average monthly balance. SNB statements jump straight into the transaction table with the summary embedded in the header. If your parser is tuned for SNB, the Riyad Bank summary block looks like junk on the first page.
Column structure is similar but not identical. SNB uses Date + Value Date + Description (bilingual) + Debit + Credit + Balance. Riyad Bank uses Date + Description (bilingual) + Cheque/Reference + Debit + Credit + Balance — no separate value date, but an explicit reference column. SNB also adds an 'RTGS' label only in corporate accounts; Riyad Bank surfaces RTGS more broadly.
What this means for your conversion
On a Riyad Bank export, the reference column will be populated for nearly every transaction — useful for matching against invoice numbers or Sarie references. On an SNB export, the value-date column is the lever you need for accrual-basis accounting: large transfers may post on day 1 and value on day 3, which matters for period-end reconciliation.
If you have a legacy NCB account that migrated to SNB after 2022, the PDF header may still show NCB branding alongside the SNB logo. The IBAN is the reliable identifier. Riyad Bank statements never have this dual-branding issue because the bank has not merged.
Quick Comparison
| Feature | Riyad Bank | Saudi National Bank (SNB) |
|---|---|---|
| Country | Saudi Arabia | Saudi Arabia |
| Region | MENA | MENA |
| Currencies | SAR | SAR |
| Sharia-Compliant | — | Yes |
Statement Features
Riyad Bank
- Multi-column transaction layout with value dates and posting dates distinguished
- Cheque reference numbers and POS terminal codes included in descriptions
- Foreign exchange transactions shown with both original and SAR-equivalent amounts
- Account holder details and branch information printed in the header
Saudi National Bank (SNB)
- Clear transaction table with reference numbers, dates, and descriptions
- Separate sections for incoming transfers, outgoing payments, and ATM withdrawals
- End-of-period balance summary clearly highlighted at the bottom
- Statement covers up to 12 months of transaction history in a single PDF
Currency Coverage
Both Banks
Frequently Asked Questions
Which is easier to convert?
SNB statements have a denser column layout but cleaner structure once the legacy NCB header is handled. Riyad Bank's summary page can confuse parsers expecting transactions on page 1, but our extraction handles it automatically. Both produce reliable CSVs.
Do both banks use the same Sarie label?
Yes. Both label Sarie instant transfers as 'حوالة سريعة'. The reference format is the same and the CSV preserves it for matching. Sarie is the Saudi national instant payment system used identically across banks.
Why does my SNB statement show two dates per row?
SNB prints both a posting date and a value date. The posting date is when the transaction hit the ledger; the value date is when funds became effective. For most retail transactions they match; for large transfers, treasury operations, or cross-border wires, they differ by 1-3 days. Riyad Bank shows only one date.
How are conventional loan repayments labelled?
SNB labels them 'سداد قرض' (loan repayment). Riyad Bank labels them 'قسط تمويل' (financing installment) regardless of whether the product is conventional or Islamic-window — which means you may need to check the source product before posting to a liability account.
Convert Either Statement Now
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