SAUDI Hollandi Bank has been honored by the Banker Middle East with two SME Banking Awards, one for the Best SME Account and one for Best SME Banking Customer Service. The Banker Middle East Product Awards are organized by the magazine's publisher CPI Financial. The awards were voted upon by the magazine's registered readers and in total 600,000 votes were cast. Saudi Hollandi Bank polled the highest number of votes for the best SME Account and the Best SME Customer Services. Saudi Hollandi Bank was recognized for its extensive range of financial products developed specifically for small & medium sized businesses as well as the excellence of the services provided to SME customers through dedicated Business Banking centers across the kingdom of Saudi Arabia. “Banker Middle East Product Awards are a region-wide awards program that helps to set the benchmark for the Middle East and North Africa region's financial services industry,” CEO of CPI Financial Adam Broom said. “They are voted for by CPI Financial readers and these awards are a testament to the leadership and the excellence demonstrated by the winners during 2012”. Receiving the awards on behalf of Saudi Hollandi Bank, Managing Director Dr. Bernd van Linder said on the occasion “SME's are key to the growth of the Kingdom's economy. The importance of SMEs is recognized by the government, who are supporting the SME segment through various initiatives ranging from the SIDF guarantee program (Kafalaa) to the SIMAH SME bureau (Taqeem), all focused on providing a conducive environment for doing business for SME's. At SHB we are poised to play our part in this endeavor by providing banking solutions suited to the specific needs of this segment. We are focusing on tailor made customer propositions to support the growth of Saudi-based and Saudi-owned SMEs.” “Today Saudi Hollandi Bank is known as one of the leading banks in the Kingdom when it comes to the provision of advisory services, financial products and funding instruments for small and medium sized enterprises. We've established dedicated teams to specifically serve the SMEs through our 8 business banking centers across the kingdom” added Dr van Linder.— SG