A high-sensitivity classification
The Saudi Central Bank has confirmed that financial institutions fall within the high-sensitivity category. That means complying with the regulation governing the use of surveillance cameras, its executive bylaw, and the requirements document — along with the financial-sector Safety and Security Guidelines and their updates.
In practice, this is not a category you can treat casually. The obligation sits on the institution, and the technical design has to be built to match it from the first line of the plan.
Storage and continuity
The financial-sector guide sets a minimum retention period of 90 days for bank facilities, together with further requirements covering equipment protection, integration and management. This is exactly why a project cannot be priced from the number of cameras alone.
What you are really designing is storage, network, power, continuity and operation. Those four or five layers decide whether the footage will actually be there — and usable — 90 days later, not the camera model on the wall.
How the advisor handles it
When a Saudi Central Bank-regulated entity is selected, the Smart Advisor routes the request to a specialised review and blocks any automatic approval of the quote. The preliminary result helps us gather the right data — it is not a compliance certificate and should never be read as one.
Frequently asked questions
Does the advisor issue a final price for a bank?
No. This type of request is routed to a specialised technical and regulatory review before any approval.
What is the baseline retention period?
The financial-sector guide points to 90 days as a minimum for bank facilities, and the latest requirements should always be reviewed.
Official sources
Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) — financial-sector CCTV specifications summary. Always cross-check the latest published version before relying on any figure here.
Practical takeaways
- Treat a regulated financial site as high-sensitivity from day one
- Design storage for at least 30 days — and 90 days minimum for bank facilities
- Price the project on storage, network, power and continuity, not on camera count
- Route any regulated entity to a specialised technical and regulatory review
- Read any preliminary estimate as data-gathering, never as a compliance certificate