Credit card holders in Saudi Arabia know what they want. Cashback. Low fees. And, for a meaningful share, travel perks. Brand prestige, interest rates, and network affiliation trail well behind.
That is the picture that emerges from a UserQ survey of 354 residents across Saudi Arabia conducted in 2026.
The study covered credit card ownership, usage patterns, bank preferences, switching intent, and attitudes towards Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) services. The sample spans multiple nationalities and regions, is broadly balanced by gender (54% male, 46% female), and skews towards working-age adults, with a mean age of 33 and the majority (42%) in the 30 to 39 bracket.
Respondents were drawn from across Saudi Arabia, with strong representation from Riyadh (42%) and Makkah (25%). The findings are directional rather than nationally representative, but the patterns are consistent enough to be useful.
Who we surveyed
The 354 respondents represent a cross-section of KSA residents holding at least one active credit card from a Saudi-issued bank. Saudi Arabians (29%) and Egyptians (28%) make up the largest national groups, followed by Pakistanis (11%), Sudanese (6%), and Indians (5%). Regionally, participants came from Riyadh, Makkah, the Eastern Province, Asir, Al-Qassim, and Madinah, among other states.
The majority of respondents were between 26 and 49, representing the core working and spending population in the Kingdom. While 54% were male, 46% were female, indicating a reasonably balanced sample.
Online shopping and everyday spending have replaced emergency use
80% of respondents use their credit card for online shopping. Seventy-four per cent use it for everyday purchases. Travel spending accounts for 53%, and recurring bills (subscriptions and utilities) for 40%.
Only 14% said they use their card for emergencies only. That figure is worth pausing on. The archetype of the credit card as a financial safety net, reserved for unexpected costs, no longer describes the majority of users in this sample. For most people here, the card is infrastructure. It is present at checkout whether the purchase is a flight, a grocery run, or a streaming subscription.
The multi-card picture reinforces this. 43% of respondents hold one card, but 33% hold two, 14% hold three, and 10% hold four or more. 57% carry multiple cards. That is not a market of captive customers. It is a market of active optimisers, spreading their spending across products to maximise what each card offers.
The three things KSA cardholders actually want
The survey asked respondents to select the three most important factors when choosing a credit card. The results form a clear hierarchy.
1st – Cashback and rewards came first, selected by 69% of respondents.
2nd – Low or no annual fees at 56%.
3rd – Travel perks (air miles, lounge access, travel insurance) at 34%.
Wide network acceptance, low interest rates, and brand trust each attracted between 28% and 31%.
The gap between the top two factors and everything below them is significant. Brand trust attracted fewer than a third of selections. It matters, but it does not lead decision-making.
The free-text responses follow the same logic. When asked why they considered a particular card the best available, respondents rarely mentioned app design or branch availability. One participant described their preference as “low fees, good cashback, good offers with shopping and travel apps.” Another wrote: “best fees and cashback is very nice.” The reasoning is sequential. Fees set the floor. Rewards determine whether a card earns its place in the wallet.
Alrajhi’s dominance and what it suggests
One bank stands clearly above the rest. Alrajhi is held by 60% of respondents across any of their cards, and named as the primary card issuer by 48%. Saudi National Bank (SNB) is a distant second as primary issuer at 17%, followed by SAB at 8% and Riyad Bank at 7%.
That level of concentration is notable in a market where users actively hold cards from multiple banks. When people consolidate to a primary card, Alrajhi is where the majority land.
The data suggests this comes from a combination of trust, network reach, and competitive rewards rather than any single product feature.
One participant cited Alrajhi simply as “trusted and widely accepted.” Another pointed to category-specific cashback rates.
The bank appears to benefit from a compounding advantage: institutional trust that reduces friction at the decision point, alongside product terms that clear the cashback-first evaluation most users apply.
For researchers studying financial product design, this is a useful illustration of how brand trust and product value can work together rather than be substitutes.
Travel perks behave differently depending on where someone is in their card journey
In the general importance question, travel perks rank third at 34%. When the question shifts to what would most influence a decision to apply for a new card, travel perks rise to 39%.
That shift is meaningful. Travel benefits appear to function differently depending on where someone sits in their relationship with their current card. For existing cardholders, cashback and low fees are the reasons to stay. For those considering moving, travel perks become a more prominent part of what makes the effort of switching feel worthwhile.
The practical implication for product teams: cards designed to retain existing customers should lead with cashback and fee transparency. Cards designed to attract switchers may benefit from giving travel perks more prominence than a third-place ranking in the general factors question would suggest.
Satisfaction is high, but barriers to switching are structural
88% of respondents gave their primary credit card a rating of 4 or 5 out of 5. Satisfaction with the broader range of credit card options available in Saudi Arabia sits similarly high, with 90% rating it at 4 or above.
The barriers data introduces some nuance.
When asked what might stop them from applying for a new card, 63% of respondents cited high interest rates or fees as the primary deterrent. Complex application processes came second at 40%. Fear of overspending or debt was selected by 37%, and satisfaction with the current card by 38%.
The fee concern appearing as the top barrier is not incidental. It mirrors its position as the second most important selection factor.
Users are not expressing a vague financial anxiety. They have already worked through a rough calculation and concluded that the likely fees on a new card may not justify the effort of switching. The application process adds a second layer of friction before anyone is even approved.
These two barriers together describe a specific experience failure: a user who is motivated to explore something better, reaches the application stage, and either cannot get through it or decides the costs are not worth finding out. This can be classified as design and pricing problems, not a communications one.
BNPL is already part of the landscape
70% of respondents have used a Buy Now Pay Later service such as Tabby, Tamara, or Postpay.
40% use it regularly.
31% have tried it a few times.
Only 30% have never used one.
The reasons are consistent with what the barriers data would predict. The top BNPL drivers are easier approval (selected by 137 respondents), better spending control (133), and no interest or fees (129). These are the same friction points that appear in the credit card barriers question, resolved by a different product.
One respondent’s comment captures the competitive dynamic clearly: “Stopped using Buy Now Pay Later after getting a credit card to maximise rewards.”
The direction of travel is reversible. BNPL is not necessarily a permanent exit from credit cards. For many users, it is a workaround for specific friction points. For banks and fintech teams, the relevant question is not whether BNPL will displace credit cards across the board, but which specific use cases it is quietly capturing.
Parting notes
The Saudi credit card market described here is not waiting for a new product category. It is waiting for existing products to stop making things unnecessarily difficult.
Users know what they want. They are largely satisfied with what they have. And they are being held back from trying something new by costs they cannot easily assess upfront and application processes they expect to be painful.
That is a specific brief for anyone designing in this space. The question worth asking is whether the product being built answers it, or whether it answers a slightly different question that felt easier to solve.
At UserQ, we help organisations get precise answers from real people across the MENA region. If you want to understand your users before your next product decision, our on-demand research platform connects you to verified participants across KSA, UAE, and beyond.
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