Edo

......or Sabb doesn't like Revolut more like.

So I have been trying to make an international transfer from Sabb KSA to my Revolut UK account. But in Sabb's international beneficiary banks list, the BIC / SWIFT attached to Revolut are incorrect. This caused my transfer to route to some third party bank in the US which Sabb was able to recover after a long chase but in the process I lost some amount in unknown "fees".

I have obtained Revolut's correct banking details and have sent them to Sabb to rectify them in their database. But the baboons in Sabb's back office insist that this is my individual account issue and not the database; and nothing that I tell them can convince them they have wrong bank details associated with Revolut in the back end. As a result they apply band aid solutions to add Revolut manually to my online profile but they cant even get that right as they keep pulling BIC details from thin air and then encouraging me to try making another transfer, which I am not willing to do until the details I see match 100% with what's on Revolut.

Does anyone know a way around it, or how to get Sabb to take this complaint seriously?

I know banking generally sucks in this part of the word but I am getting really fed up of Sabb's customer service. It is absolutely no comparison to HSBC UK. My next resort would be to switch banks but I need to stay one that offers USD account as this is my preferred currency for sending remittances.

psychopomp1

You *may* find Sabb are deliberately trying to stop transfers to Revolut UK just like most Qatari banks are/were doing. Reason? They’re losing shed loads in forex commission fees versus the likes of Revolut etc. Maybe try alternatives such as CurrencyFair, Wise, Fineco bank etc. Fineco bank are probably your best bet as they don’t charge anything to convert from USD to other currencies unlike Wise or CurrencyFair and their forex rates are mid-market (more or less).

csdf

I have a similar issue, with a different pair of banks. What works for me is to call my sending bank and get them to do a manual transfer, with the correct correspondent bank and beneficiary bank details in.

Edo

Thanks for your advice. Can you explain the process of transferring from a KSA bank to those intermediary providers? I just searched for them on Sabb's international bank's list in my online banking but none of them came up.

Thanks

Edo

Thanks for this information. I will call Sabb and see if they can do a a manual transfer to Revolut.

Question, why does there have to be a corresponding bank involved? For example in case of Revolut, they are a registered financial entity in the UK with their own BIC and SWIFT codes. So can't money just be credited to them directly from Sabb?

psychopomp1

Every single bank in the world uses intermediary (or partner) banks when sending international payments.

This is because it’s impossible (wrt costs) for any bank to have direct payment arrangements with EVERY other bank in the world given the sheer number of banks there are on this planet. Banks won’t usually disclose their intermediary partners to the public, only way to find out is if it actually states the name of the intermediary bank on your bank statement. But you cannot ask any bank to change their intermediary banks - that is something Joe Public has zero control over.

To give you 2 examples:in Qatar Al Ahli Bank use Barclays in UK when sending GBP to any UK bank and likewise Commercial Bank use Lloyds Bank.

Also worth remembering the more intermediary banks there are in any payment route, the greater the risk of higher charges along the way.

Edo

Understood.

So is it safe to assume that an intermediary bank should be based in the same domicile country as the beneficiary bank (at least in case of UK)? I am asking cuz the intermediary or corresponding bank that Sabb has added to my account is in the US whereas my Revolut account is in UK.

Secondly, what is Sabb's purpose behind adding Revolut to their list, yet with wrong BIC?

psychopomp1

Nope, intermediary banks are not always located in the same country as the final destination. It depends on what routing arrangements the sending bank has, information which you and I won’t be privy to.

As for why Sabb have the wrong routing details for Revolut, you’ll have to ask them.

Pifly

Did you ever get anywhere with this? I read on Reddit about a few guys having issues with it.

I can’t send SAR to my Revolut SAR account with SABB, also tried with Al Ahli, Alinma, and Al Rahji bank as they all allowed online opening and thought it was worth a try. Non will send SAR to a U.K. account (online or over the phone where the excuses / reasons vary from the barely believable to just downright made up answers)

Best I’ve managed is to send USD to my USD Revolut which works as SABB premier only seem to take a few dollars as opposed to a huge markup.

Would be greatful to hear others

ExpatSurveyor

@Pifly, I'm interested in sending USD from SABB to my USD Revolut. Did you manage to add the USD Revolut as a beneficiary on the SABB mobile banking app, and do the transfer that way? or did you have to call SABB directly for a manual transfer?

In any case, can you recall the fee and time taken for the monies to be deposited into the USD Revolut account?

Thank you.

Pifly

I did it on the SABB desktop site and didn’t speak to anyone, jsut added my Revolut USD account. Have done it a few times now. Sent 100k SAR and received a smidgen over 26603 USD so it cost 239SAR in fees or markup and was received in 2 days

Edo

Hi

Sorry, I just saw this post.

You are right, Revolut doesn't recognise SAR as a receiving currency so SABB USD to Revolut is the only way.

However, in my experience so far there is always inconsistency in SABB's fees. When I sent small transactions (say a few hundred USD) then I received the exact same amount in my Revolut (hence no fees etc.). But when I sent a larger amount then there was a deduction as I received less on the other end. I called SABB to seek clarification and their answer was, it is because of currency conversion. What currency conversion? I am only sending USD to USD!!! Also, if that is the case then I am confused as to why only a fixed charge of USD 23 was applied both times. But keep in mind the max I have sent in one go so far was USD 5000 so I am not sure if they would charge more if you send a higher amount. Can I ask what was the highest amount that you have transferred in one go?

Speaking of other banks, I have recently opened a SAR and a USD account with Alinma. The good thing about their online portal is that unlike SABB they show correct beneficiary bank details for Revolut (SWIFT Code and address information) whereas when you add Revolut on SABB they show you their intermediary bank details which caused me so much confusion in the beginning. I haven't tried sending money through Alinma yet but I am curious to find out what kind of fee structure they have for international transfers compared to SABB. Alinma is a younger bank and their staff seem to be a lot more clued on about their bank's policies and explain things really well when you contact them. Their phone customer services is also multi times better than the lost offspring of the "world's local bank".

Edo

​​​Hi ExpatSurveyor

​​​​I see ​​Pifly has already answered your question and I hope that my previous post explain things a bit more. In terms of timeline my transfer usually arrives in Revolut within around 30 mins on when I do them on weekdays (but please bear in mind that I have only transferred small amounts and nothing too crazy yet). I also think that at some point Revolut will ask for my proof of income to satisfy anti money laundering protocols once I start making more regular transfers.

Hope it helps.

ExpatSurveyor

Hi Edo,

I have successfully managed to transfer USD from my SABB USD account to my revolut USD. With the help of a colleague I have the tested a few different value transfers and have found the following:

1. Interestingly, for transfers upto and including the value of 1000 USD (without checking the "transfer with Full value to beneficiary" box in the SABB transfer window - which automatically deducts 57.5 SAR from your account), I was not charged any intermediary bank fees by SABB. 1000 USD sent, 1000 USD recieved in Revolut.

2. However, when sending 2000 USD (again without checking the "transfer with Full value to beneficiary" box in the SABB transfer window), I was charged an intermediary bank fee of approximately 23 USD by SABB (confirmed by SABB), 2000 USD sent, 1977 USD recieved in Revolut. After doing some calculations and taking into account Pifly's post, it is likely that the intermediary bank charge is a flat rate of approximately 23 USD no matter the amount being sent (over 1000 USD).

3. I also sent 2300 USD, this time however, I did check the "transfer with Full value to beneficiary". I was charged by SABB 57.5 SAR (apprx 13 USD) and this time was not charged an intermediary bank fee. So, 2300 USD sent, 2300 USD recieved in Revolut with SABB having taken the initial 57.5 SAR upfront from my SABB current account.

To conclude, for transferring upto and including 1000 USD best to send without checking the tick box "transfer with Full value to beneficiary". Anything over 1000 USD I found it best to tick the "transfer with Full value to beneficiary" and only be charged apprx 13 USD upfront instead the 23 USD without the tick box checked.

Apologies for the long winded update, in any case, I might have got it all horribly wrong and would appreciate it if someone could corroborate my findings.

FYI, I have a SABB Premier account here in KSA and a Premium Plan on Revolut (not sure if that makes any difference).

Hope that helps, KR ExpatSurveyor.

Edo

Hi KR
Thanks for the detailed post. So glad to see that someone else is also putting an effort in trying to find out the best and cheapest solution to transfer money.

So last week I transferred $1000 from SABB to Revolut but unfortunately I was charged the $23 on that amount (I didn't check the "transfer with Full value to beneficiary" box). This proves the their process is not consistent as you were not charged this fee when you transferred $1000.

I'd also like to add that after escalating my request through to a supervisor level I received a call yesterday and was told that the charges are in fact intermediary bank fees and not currency conversion fees as was told by the previous advisor. I was also told that the total charges for international transfers are capped to $150 per transaction however, the supervisor couldn't tell me if these charges are proportional to the total amount being sent or just a number from thin air as he claimed that they don't have any control over the intermediary bank. And who's the intermediary bank? Well, it's HSBC 😀

PS. I m also a SABB Premiere customer as well as have a Premium Plan with Revolut.