“Awn” (helping others) and “Hifth” (environmental protection) are two of the pillars of SAIB’s sustainability framework that highlight the Bank’s social and environmental responsibility. The Bank has a responsibility to support the communities it is a part of and to help the disadvantaged. The Bank also has a responsibility to minimize its environmental footprint and conserve natural resources to ensure continued long-term value creation.
Environmental policies and systems
As one of the Bank’s five sustainability pillars, Hifth (environmental protection) signifies that the Bank is conscious of how it impacts the environment it operates in and strives to minimize this impact and protect the environment. The importance the Bank gives to the environment is further highlighted by its commitment to Vision 2030 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Environmental management
The Bank directly impacts the environment through its operations and indirectly through its value chain. To measure the environmental impact and improve upon it, the Bank aligned to the ISO 14000 standard for the implementation of an Environmental Management System (EMS). The EMS covers a wide range of environmental issues, including protecting the environment by minimizing and mitigating adverse impact, mitigating the environment’s impact on SAIB, fulfilling compliance obligations, realising financial and operational benefits from environmentally sound alternatives, and communicating environment-related information.
A Procedures Manual facilitates the EMS implementation by:
Defining the needs and expectations of stakeholders concerned with the environment
Identifying environmental conditions that affect the Bank
Identifying the environmental impact of SAIB’s activities
Defining the risks and opportunities that need to be considered for the management of environmental issues
Designing a framework to implement SAIB’s environmental policies and objectives
Identifying key performance indicators (KPIs) for measuring SAIB’s environmental performance.
Building management system
With the aim of developing a comprehensive understanding of the environmental impact of the energy usage and emissions of SAIB’s operations. The Bank implemented a Building Management System (BMS) in all branches across the Kingdom which contributes greatly to creating a positive environmental impact. Since its implementation in 2015, the BMS has shown a significant reduction in energy consumption (MW/h) of over 23%, which has led to the system being selected by Inc. magazine to be a formal case study.
The efforts of our BMS Team dedicated to track the Bank’s energy usage in detail has greatly helped in sustaining overall progress. As a result of these efforts, many timely initiatives were taken to identify lapses and management has taken prompt action to implement an eco-friendly branch (solar system) and electricity-saving equipment such as LED lighting, energy-efficient IT and air conditioning systems, and water conserving systems.
GHG Emissions
Petrol/Diesel consumption
MWh
GJ
SAR
Direct Scope 1
(Fuel/Diesel usage)
Indirect Scope 2
(Electricity usage)
Litre
GJ
2016
33,541
120,748
9,877,600
264
21,936
110,005
8,813
2017
32,596
117,346
10,132,628
257
20,673
107,310
8,584
2018
28,258
101,729
9,249,624
255
18,481
106,110
8,162
2019
31,883
114,779
10,003,314
257
20,851
83,178
6,398
2020*
29,807
107,305
9,561,695
254
19,494
79,193
6,092
*Information based on projected data for January – December of FY 2020.
Paper usage and recycling
25,802 Kg
Total paper consumption (Kgs) – 2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
46,325
68,770
73,995
64,187
19.58 Kg
Paper consumption/employee (Kgs) – 2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
35
46
49
39
4,760 Kg
Paper recycled (Kgs) – 2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
8,007
48,384
9,676
8,852
2,680 Kg
Plastics recycled (Kgs) – 2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
3,735
10,788
1,194
–
Electronics recycled (Kgs) – 2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
5,560
14,620
2,010
–
No activity due to COVID-19 precautionary measures
Clothing recycled (Kgs)
2019
2018
2017
2016
600
624
–
–
No activity due to COVID-19 precautionary measures
Water consumption and expenditure
78,154,000
Consumption (litres)
466
Expenditure (SAR ’000)
The figure of 78,154,000 litres is derived from 78,154 (m3) annual water consumption of Kingdom-wide branches which has been calculated via formula based on the number of invoices paid and as per the tariff schedule of the National Water Company.
The reported water consumption comprises all the domestic usage of water where applicable and is recorded from the main incoming domestic water supply lines of the Branch.
Social responsibility
Awn (helping others) is a part of SAIB’s philosophy about our social responsibility to support the communities we are a part of and to help the disadvantaged. The Bank also encourages its stakeholders to adopt sustainable practices to benefit the economy, society, and the Kingdom.
Forejat
The Bank negotiated and signed an agreement with the General Directorate for Prisons to add Forejat to the WooW Al-Khair program, thus enabling SAIB customers to donate their WooW loyalty points to the Forejat program.
World Cancer Day
The Bank’s CSR unit partnered with the King Abdulaziz Media City Hospital to arrange a visit by senior SAIB executives to visit over 50 National Guard cancer patients. Gifts were provided to each of the National Guard patients.
World Alzheimer’s Day
SAIB ran a World Alzheimer’s Day campaign with awareness messages distributed throughout the Head Office building and via the Bank’s social media channels.
Saudi National Day
To celebrate the 90th Saudi National Day, the Bank crated an emotional video to represent what happened in 1337H when the plague spread and how the situation at the time was dealt with care, similar to the current COVID-19 pandemic. The video was promoted across the Bank’s social media channels.
Women’s Day
A video production of SAIB’s female employees was created to convey the message that all Saudi women share the same achievements, determination, and persistence as HRH Princess Nora bint Abdurrahman. The video was shared across SAIB’s social media channels on Women’s Day.
Sign language videos for finance products
Three videos were created to promote SAIB’s cards and home finance and personal finance products. The videos featured a sign language interpreter explaining the products and benefits and were shared on YouTube and played at branches.
Special needs branches video
A video was produced for the newly equipped branch with a sign language interpreter to serve those with special needs to demonstrate all the services available in the branch. The video was shared on the Bank’s social media channels and website. A webpage was also created with full details about the services available at the branches and a map identifying the locations of the special needs branches.
Bin Khaldun School
The Operational Excellence Department hosted children from the Bin Khaldun School and provided them with educational awareness sessions about banking.
WooW Alkhair program
Total WooW points donated to charity
222,700,000
Value of WooW points donated
SAR 1,113,500
Numbers of participating organizations in WooW program
48
SAIB’s WooW loyalty program gives the Bank’s loyalty customers the option to donate the points they earn to charitable causes. In 2020, WooW loyalty customers donated a total of SAR 1,113,500 to 48 participating organizations through the WooW Alkhair program.
COVID-19 initiatives
Recognising the severe toll that COVID-19 took on citizens, workers, customers, and businesses across the Kingdom, SAIB undertook several initiatives to contribute to the betterment of society during this extraordinary time.
The Bank contributed to support the Ministry of Health’s Endowment Fund to confront the coronavirus pandemic with an amount of SAR 6.5 million. The fund helped to provide treatments and contribute to financing preventive programs and health research. Furthermore, the Bank postponed loan instalments for health sector employees who had credit facilities (real estate, consumer, lease financing) with the Bank for three months in appreciation of their efforts.
SAIB contributed SAR 4.072 million to support the Community Fund initiative of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development and the General Authority for Endowments to mitigate the economic and social impacts of the pandemic.
SAIB continued to support the Ministry of Health by publishing the Ministry’s awareness content across the Bank’s social media channels, while also commending the efforts of health sector heroes working diligently to fight the coronavirus. Additionally, the Bank supported the various campaigns of government agencies such as #CautiouslyWeReturn and #StayHome with awareness-raising content related to the services provided.
The Bank used its social media channels to highlight its digitalization and continuity of work, and encouraged customers to use digital channels for banking services by publishing educational clips and awareness messages and the #FromHome campaign to raise awareness of banking services via digital channels to reduce the need to visit branches. Further quality of life improvements were made by increasing the purchase limit through the Mada Atheer (contactless payment) service to SAR 300 and eliminating international transfer fees via electronic platforms. A dedicated toll-free service number (800 124 8002) was also established to handle questions and inquiries relating to SAMA’s Private Sector Financing Support Program.
