SNB regains Saudi deposit crown from Al Rajhi after nine months

Saudi National Bank (SNB) regained the lead in Saudi Arabia’s deposit market at end-June 2026, after nine consecutive months in which Al Rajhi Bank held the top position following its move into first place at end-September 2025, according to a recent analysis by First Bank’s Research Centre.

The shift reflects the continuing change in the competitive balance between the kingdom’s two largest banking institutions.

According to the banks’ consolidated financial statements, SNB’s customer deposits rose to USD 185.82 billion at end-June 2026 from USD 169.59 billion at end-2025, representing growth of 9.6 per cent in H1 2026.

By comparison, Al Rajhi Bank’s customer deposits increased to USD 183.21 billion at end-June 2026 from about USD 177.91 billion at end-2025, up 3 per cent over the same period.

The results show that the change at the top was not driven by a decline in Al Rajhi Bank’s deposit base, but by the widening gap between the two banks’ growth rates during the first half of the year.

While Al Rajhi Bank continued to record positive deposit growth, SNB accelerated its deposit mobilisation at a rate more than three times that of its rival, allowing it to close the gap and regain first place within six months.

This reflects a shift in the nature of competition in Saudi Arabia’s deposit market. Maintaining a larger deposit base is no longer sufficient to secure the leading position, while the ability to achieve faster growth and attract new deposit inflows has become increasingly influential in reshaping the rankings among the kingdom’s largest banks.

The development comes amid intense competition between the two banks over the past five years.

SNB had long been Saudi Arabia’s largest bank by customer deposits before Al Rajhi Bank took first place for the first time in its history during 2024, marking the start of a new phase characterised by an unprecedented narrowing of the gap between their deposit bases and repeated changes in leadership.

Since then, neither bank has maintained a stable lead, with the top position shifting according to differences in deposit growth during each financial period. After Al Rajhi Bank first moved into first place, SNB regained the lead at end-June 2025.

Al Rajhi Bank then returned to the top at end-September of the same year and held the position for nine consecutive months, before SNB regained it once again at end-June 2026.

This pattern confirms that competition between the two banks has entered a more dynamic phase than in previous years.

The gap between them has become extremely narrow, meaning that even a relatively small difference in deposit growth over a single financial period can reshape the leadership of the market.

Despite SNB’s return to first place, the competition remains open, as the gap between the two banks stood at just USD 2.61 billion at end-June 2026, a very narrow margin relative to the size of their respective deposit bases.

This suggests that leadership of Saudi Arabia’s deposit market will continue to depend on each bank’s ability to maintain growth momentum and attract further deposits in the coming periods.