2020 Q4 Report En · Page 6

 
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SAMA Issues the 3rd Quarterly Report of the year 2020 for the 
Insurance Sector 
SAMA announced the release of the third quarterly report of the 
insurance sector for the Year 2020. The report highlights the 
performance of the Insurance Sector during Q3 2020 in 
comparison with the corresponding quarter in the preceding year. 
This step comes as part of the Central Bank's commitment to 
provide accurate and up-to-date information on the performance 
of the insurance sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 
According to the report, the sector showed positive developments 
during Q3 2020. Despite a small reduction of 0.4% in the Gross 
Written Premiums reaching SAR 8.8bn, the Net Income for the 
sector grew by 1.9% driven by a 22.5% growth in Operating 
Income. In addition, the Solvency Ratio improved by 31 
percentage points to reach 178%. The Combined Ratio decreased 
reaching 97%. Loss Ratio for Motor insurance reduced noticeably. 
SAMA Permits 2 New Fintech Companies to Operate in the 
Regulatory Sandbox 
The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) announced that it has permitted 
two new FinTech companies (Tabby and Tamara) to operate in 
the Regulatory Sandbox environment. These companies will be 
joining the list of companies that have been permitted in the 
previous cohorts, bringing the total number of companies 
permitted by SAMA to 32. SAMA stated that both companies had 
applied in the second cohort of 2019, and they have granted the 
approval after assessing their applications and ensured that they 
have fulfilled the eligibility criteria in accordance with the 
published Regulatory Sandbox Framework. 
The new service "Buy now Pay later" approved in SAMA's 
Regulatory Sandbox comes as part of SAMA's endeavor to 
support e-commerce, increase the level of financial inclusion, in 
addition to promoting and diversify the financial services offered 
within the financial sector, and drive towards digital 
transformation in the financial sector in line with the 
requirements and objectives of the Financial Sector Development 
Program, one of the Kingdom's 2030 vision programs. 
SAMA Licenses 3 Payment Companies 
The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) announced the licensing of three 
payments companies as Payment Institutions (PI); Skyband as a 
(PI) through point of sales services, NoonPay as a PI through e-
commerce payment gateway services, and Foodics as a (PI) 
through point of sales services. With the recent licenses, the total 
number of Fintech companies licensed by SAMA in the payment 
services increased to 11. 
This decision is based on SAMA's mandate to license, control, and 
oversee the payments sector in the Kingdom as per the Council of 
Ministers Resolution No. 226 dated 2/5/1440 H. The step by 
SAMA follows the issuance of the Payment Services Provider 
regulations on 5/6/1441H corresponding to 30/1/2020, which 
was followed by the licensing of payment services providers 
(Financial Technology Institutions) With the aim to provide a 
competent regulatory framework which is capable of supporting 
innovation in the payments sector and financial technology. 
Saudi Arabia’s Venture Investor Company Invests in Alpha 
Capital for Growth 
Saudi Arabia's Venture Investment Company has invested in 
Alpha Capital for Growth managed by Alpha Financial. The 
signing was in the presence of the Governor of the General 
Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises (Monshaat) 
chairman of the Saudi Company for Venture Investment Engineer
Saleh bin I