Saudi Gazette, 2 October 2025: The Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) has released seven new directives to banks and financial institutions regarding salary and financial support payments processing.

Key requirements include: immediate processing of salary deposits upon data completion, maintenance of adequate technical and human resource, enhanced system monitoring during payment periods, implementation of contingency plans for technical issues, mandatory reporting of payment disruptions, development of internal escalation procedures and submission of detailed transaction reports within three business days.

Specific timing requirements state that: banks must report any government salary payment disruptions by 11:00 a.m. on payment day, transaction reports must include both processed and rejected payments, and institutions must provide contact details for staff responsible for government salary processing.

The directives mandate that banks: conduct system change assessments to prevent payment disruptions, notify SAMA of delays via Treasury Support Messages, maintain operational resilience monitoring and establish clear problem-escalation procedures.

The new requirements apply to all salary and financial support payments processed through the Saudi financial system.

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