Banking in Qatar consists of local, regional, international and Islamic banks, with over 250 branches and 650 ATM’s across the country, in malls, souqs, hotels, hospitals and petrol stations. Major credit cards are widely accepted and visitors to Qatar can access their home accounts by using their ATM cards here.

Opening hours: Sunday-Thursday 7:30am-1pm Many mall branches are open all day, with some open Saturday 8:30-12:30pm

Most bank’s standard facilities include debit/credit cards, standing orders, personal loans, vehicle loans, and with 90% of Qatar’s workforce being foreign, money transfers , internet banking and the options to save in US dollars, pounds sterling and Euros are also available.

Most banks in Qatar provide for the options of opening an account before or after arrival in Doha. This can be done online and allows for the transfer of funds to be in your account on arrival and the bank normally provide a debit card and a mobile SIM upon opening the account.

Residence permit (RP) Y

ou will need a valid residence permit (RP) with the 11 digit stamp on your passport or work visa. You don’t actually need a Qatari ID if you have either of these. A spouse or family members can also open up an account under your sponsorship, but check with the bank.

• Valid Passport
• Letter of conformation of monthly salary This letter must confirm your monthly salary in Qatari riyals from either your employer or sponsor and must have the climpany’s official stamp.
• Tenancy Agreement Some banks may require a tenancy agreement to confirm your residency and address.
• Copies of all documents
• Take the originals but make sure you have copies too.
• Photos
• Photocopies of any signed documents
• Make sure you insist of copies for all documents you sign
• Cheques

It is worth insisting that you are issued with a chequebook because, although not widely accepted as a form of instant payment in the way cash or cards are, post-dated cheques are commonly used for accommodation rental payment. The bank is under a duty not to cash the cheques before the dictated time.

Most banks offer either a personal loan against salary or a personal loan against fixed deposit. Facilities include ability to top up, early repayment, a grace of up to three months before paying first instalments and being able to postpone loan instalments up to twice per year.

If all the requirements are met taking out a personal loan should be 24 hour procedure and applications can be submitted online.

Required Documents

• Qatari ID.
• Passport
• Documentation of latest monthly salary

Once your documents have been submitted the bank can calculate your loan, the number of instalments, the interest rate and the loan dates.

There are five Islalmic banks in Qatar, Barwa Bank, Qatar Islamic Bank, International Islamic, Masraf Al Rayan and Qatar First Bank.

Islamic banks describe themselves as Sharia (Islamic law) compliant, the main principle of Islamic banking being the prohibition of the use of interest (riba). The Islamic banks charge fees for services and practice profit sharing, which allows them to offer similar facilities to conventional banks.