JEDDAH, 28 December 2003 — The Saudi American Bank has changed its name to Samba and taken out huge ads in local newspapers to announce the change.

“The name Samba reflects the close relation between the bank and its clients,” the advertisement said.

The bank did not elaborate further.

Samba currently has 62 branches, 253 ATMs, three Global Investment Centers, 28 Speed Cash Centers within the Kingdom.

It claims to have been the first bank to offer priority banking, phone banking, credit shield, saving linked insurance, cash deposit in ATMs, speed cash remittance services and automated signature verification, according to its website.