Al Rajhi Banking and Investment : The Saudi Electricity Company and Al Rajhi Bank sign the Kingdom's first agreement for the electronic linkage of bank guarantees

The Saudi Electricity Company (the Middle East and North Africa's largest producer, transmitter, and distributor of electrical energy) today announced a partnership agreement with Al Rajhi Bank (one of the largest banks in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) to provide electronic linkage services for bank guarantees. This will enable the automation of operations based on bank guarantees provided by project contractors, which will be reflected on electrical service projects in order to achieve reliability in their implementation in accordance with strategic and operational plans, as well as to simplify procedures for financial and financing transactions between the company and the bank.

BwaTech Company for Information Technology, which works to electronically connect the banking and business sectors through its electronic platform "Bawadel," also participates in this agreement.

"This agreement falls within the Saudi Electricity Company's strategy for digital transformation, as it seeks to develop all of its services in various fields," said Khaled Al-Gnoon, CEO of Saudi Electricity.

Al-Gnoon stated that this agreement is in line with the Kingdom's Vision 2030 in all sectors, including the electricity sector.

The CEO of Saudi Electricity explained that this agreement completes the company's digital transformation process and reflects the company's serious commitment to using the latest technologies to improve reliability in financial operations to serve the Saudi Electricity Company's partners, including contractors and suppliers.

Mr. Walid Al Mogbel, CEO of Al Rajhi Bank, stated that this service is the first of its kind in electronically connecting the banking sector with the business sector to issue bank guarantees digitally, as this initiative supports the Kingdom's Vision 2030's financial sector development program and the achievement of digital transformation in financial services.

He went on to say that the Saudi Electricity Company is one of the companies that is spearheading the launch of this project, which aims to develop business implementation methods and achieve digital transformation.

Mr. Hashem Al Hekail, Chairman of the Board of Directors of BwaTech, commented on the agreement, saying, "BwaTech aims to electronically link the banking sector with the business sectors to implement all banking activities through its electronic platform, Bawadel, for the benefit of both sides, especially companies that have multiple banking relationships. One of the linkage projects we are currently working on is the automation of bank guarantees, as paper procedures have been replaced by advanced technical methods to link banks issuing these guarantees with their beneficiaries to facilitate the implementation of issuance and subsequent procedures."

Al Hekail added, "We owe our thanks to both the Saudi Electricity Company for their support and initiative in launching this project, and Al Rajhi Bank as the project's first participant and supporter."

It is worth noting that BwaTech is a financial technology company (FinTech) founded in 2020, authorized and operating under the regulations of the Saudi Central Bank's (SAMA) legislative pilot environment, with the goal of providing innovative financial services and products in the Kingdom.