AL RAJHI BANK
Banking through FinTech and Digital Transformation
In the early days , before ARB ’ s inception , its founders-to-be were brothers who began by serving Muslim pilgrims travelling to Mecca and in need of support services , one of which was currency exchange . ARB was eventually established in 1957 and has since grown into one of the world ’ s largest Islamic Banks by market cap and the largest in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia , with total assets of SAR 624 billion ( US $ 166 billion ), a market cap of SAR 354.5 billion ( US $ 94.5 billion ) and an employee base of 9,360 + associates as of December 2021 . The Al Rajhi group is deeply rooted in Islamic banking principles and is instrumental in bridging the gap between modern financial demands and intrinsic values , whilst spearheading various industry standards and development .
Speaking of the journey that led him to becoming the CEO of ARBM , Oz says : “ I grew up in East London when it was not as nice as it is now , and the first thing I wanted to do was to get out . I noticed that friends of mine were going to newer and better schools located in other places , and I would often question why they were able to move , and we were not . I later found out the reason was that my parents didn ' t have access to Faith-Based Home Financing , or in this case , Shariah- Compliant Financing so they could move us to better areas with better schools . As I got older , I increasingly saw this trend that people were being needlessly held back and unable to realise their full potential .”
Oz ’ s first professional foray into financial services was as Strategy Analyst for Accenture , which he began in 2004 . Here , feeling as though he had at last moved
“ My goal is to serve the underserved ”
ARSALAAN AHMED CEO , AL-RAJHI BANK MALAYSIA
148 June 2022