Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA), the Saudi central bank, has tightened restrictions on cash withdrawals using credit card from banks, in a bid to head off consumer debt issues.
Earlier, customers were allowed to secure cash advances equivalent to as much as 50% of their monthly credit card spending limits under an informal industry arrangement, and had to pay heavy fees to do so, reported Reuters.
The new rules, aimed at protecting cardholders and introducing international best practice, imposes an official ceiling of 30%.
In 2014, SAMA also published new consumer lending rules, which empowered it to cap retail lending at individual banks as well as limit fees charged by banks.
