Privacy Notice

Privacy Notice                                                             Last Updated 02 November 2021

Your privacy and the security of your personal information is very important to us. At Arab Bank plc Qatar, hereinafter referred to as the “Bank”, we ensure that personal information you provided to us is always treated as private and confidential, afforded the highest level of security,  and is processed in accordance with Qatar’s Personal Data Privacy Protection Law No. 13 of 2016, hereafter referred to as the “Law” or “PDPPL”. This Privacy Notice, hereinafter referred to as “Notice”, aims to provide you with information on how we will use your personal data, what steps we will take to ensure it stays private and secure and what personal data we collect and process about, you as well as your data privacy rights and how you can exercise them.

How we collect your information

The Bank collects your information through one of the following methods:

- Directly: we obtain personal information directly from you in order to receive a service from the Bank or transacting with the Bank, including without limitation, log a complaint, enter a business relationship, or for other purposes depending on the services requested for or agreed upon.

- Indirectly: we may obtain personal information about you indirectly from a variety of sources, including: your broker, intermediaries, the Banks’s Affiliates ; Cookies, device ID's, social media, public sources, business partners, and recruitment services to better understand and serve you, satisfy a legal obligation, or in pursuance of another legitimate interest.   

How we use your information

We collect your personal information for various reasons in relation to our services, products or interacting with us, and for other business purposes, including, but not limited to:

- to provide and manage your account(s) and our relationship with you.

- to give you statements and other information about your account or our relationship.

- to handle enquiries and complaints.

- to provide our services to you.

- to conduct assessment, testing, and analysis for statistical purposes or other analysis for market research purposes.

- to evaluate, develop, and improve our services to you and other customers.

- to protect our business interests and to develop our business strategies.

- to contact you, by post, phone, text, email and other digital methods.

- to collect any debts owing to us.

- to meet our regulatory compliance and reporting obligations in relation to protecting against financial crime.

- to assess any application you make.

- to monitor, record, and analyze any communications between you and us.

- to share your information with Qatar Central Bank and other governmental authorities, Qatar Credit Bureau , and other credit reference agencies, fraud prevention agencies, and overseas regulators and authorities.

- to share your information with our partners and service providers and external auditors.

- recruitment and vetting agencies for prospective job applicants.  

- client prospecting, marketing and selling agencies.

- For purpose of litigation, consultation, legal advices or documentation of transactions

On what legal grounds do we process your information

We rely on the following lawful reasons when we collect and process your personal information to operate our business, transacting with you, provide our products and services:

- Contractual obligation: we process your information if necessary for the entry and/or implementation of a contract with you, or for the conclusion of a contract at your request.

-Legitimate interests: we rely on legitimate interests based on our evaluation that the processing is fair, reasonable, and balanced.

- Legal obligations and public interests: we process personal information to comply with a legal obligation, court order, or to meet regulatory and public interest obligations or mandates.

- Consent: We will only process your personal information with your explicit written consent except for reasons permitted under the Law.

- Crime investigation: to investigate a crime, if officially requested by the investigating authorities

Which personal information do we collect and process

The personal data we collect includes data provided by you at the start of our relationship or at any time thereafter such as:

- Personal details such as name, date of birth, email, nationality, marital status, and gender and contact information.

- Current residential address and permanent residential address, and proof of address documents.

- Data about your identity including documents, details of ID cards, details of passports.

-Employer, employment status, job title, full name, email, address and telephone number(s) used for work purposes.

-Financial data: income and source of income, source of wealth, average account financial activity, and engagement data.

- Data about your tax status such overseas tax-identification number, FATCA forms, etc.

- Details of transactions done by you or by any of your connected persons including dates, amounts, currencies, and payer and payee details.

- Sound and visual images including CCTV footage.

- Digital identifiers (IP address, email).

- Cookies (please refer to our security statement).

- Risk rating information, e.g. credit risk rating and data about your ability to manage credit.

- Recruitment information and qualifications for prospective job applicants.

- Due diligence data, e.g. data required to comply with financial crime regulations (anti-money laundering, anti-terrorism financing, etc.) and data we need to fulfil regulatory obligations such as Suspicious Activity Reporting.

- Other people’s information, such as witnesses, family and household members, emergency contacts, and guardians, which include their signatures, addresses and relationship with you.

- Legal dispute, complaints, and grievance information.

- Agreements, contracts, billing and commissions information.

- Security Information.

- Data about your geographic location, ATMs used, and branches you visit.

How long do we keep your personal information

We retain personal information to provide our services, stay in contact with you and to comply with applicable laws, regulations, and professional obligations, which we are subject to. We will dispose of your personal information in a secure manner when we no longer need it for the above justifications.

How we protect and safeguard your personal information

We will take reasonable technical and organizational precautions to prevent the loss, misuse, or alteration of your personal information. We aim to ensure that access to your personal information is limited only to those who need to access it, and those individuals who have access to the information are required to maintain the confidentiality of such information.

If you are using online services from the Bank, you remain responsible for keeping your user ID and password confidential.

Who has access to your personal information and to whom it is disclosed

We keep your personal information confidential. However, in order to service your needs to the best of our ability, we may share your personal information with other parties bound via contractual agreements to safeguard your information and only process it under our strict instructions.

We may share the information about you and your dealings with us, to the extent allowed by law, with: 

-Arab Bank Branches and Subsidiaries.

- External Auditors.

- Regulatory authorities, governmental bodies, financial crime prevention agencies, and tax authorities.

- Third Party Service Providers.

- Agents acting on behalf of the Bank. 

- Courier and postal services.

- Credit reference organizations. 

-  Law firms, lawyers, or professional advisors.

- Other parties with which you have agreed to share your information with.

Transfer of information outside of Qatar

In accordance with the Law, we may transfer your personal information to other Arab Bank Group members outside of Qatar, as well as third party organizations outside of Qatar when we have a business reason to engage these organizations. Each organization is required to safeguard personal information in accordance with our contractual obligations and the Law.

Marketing

Arab Bank may send you marketing messages about our products and services. You have the right to opt-in or out of receiving marketing messages by us at any time. You can also object to your personal data being used for marketing purposes at any time by emailing Privacy.Office@Arabbank.com.jo.

What are your rights and how you can exercise them

- Right to protection and lawful processing: Arab Bank Qatar shall only process your personal data in accordance with the principles and provisions of the PDPPL.

- Right to erasure: You have the right to request the erasure of your personal data in the following circumstances:

• When consent has been withdrawn, if consent is the lawful basis for processing.
• When the processing is no longer necessary
• When the personal data is beyond the extent required
• When the purpose for processing no longer exists
• When the reasons for storing the data no longer exists
• When the processing is discriminatory, unfair or illegal.

- Right to object to processing in certain circumstances: you have the Right to Object to the processing your Personal Data if such processing is not necessary to achieve the purposes for which such Personal Data have been collected, or where such collected Personal Data are beyond the extent required, discriminatory, unfair or illegal.

- Right to withdraw consent: you can withdraw your consent that you have previously given to one or more specified purposes to process your personal information. This will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before you withdrew your consent. It could mean we are not able to provide certain products or services to you and we will advise you if this is the case.

- Right to be notified of processing: you have the right to be informed of certain information such as the collection and use of your personal data, details of the Bank, the purpose of processing, and any other necessary information at the time of information collection, and upon your request.

- Right to be notified of inaccurate disclosure: you have the right to be notified when a third party has been given inaccurate information concerning your personal data.

- Right to lodge a complaint: you have the right to make a complaint to the CDP (Compliance and Data Protection Department) if you believe Arab Bank has violated the provisions of the PDPPL or the issued guidelines. You can find the contact details of the CDP at https://compliance.qcert.org/en/contactus

-  Right to access personal data: you have a right to request a copy of your personal data held by Arab Bank Qatar at any time, after paying an amount not exceeding the service charge.

- Right to request correction: you have the right to request corrections to your personal data at any time; this includes rectifying inaccurate personal data and/or complete personal data if it is incomplete. This request should be accompanied with proof of accuracy.

Please note that our fulfillment to your requests may be subject to limitations, in certain circumstances, in accordance with the Law.

To submit a request to exercise any of these rights, please send an email to Privacy.Office@Arabbank.com.jo

Details about the Bank (“The Controller”)

Arab Bank plc – State of Qatar (Financial Institution – Commercial Bank)

Grand Hamad Street – Doha – State of Qatar, Street number 119, Zone number 6, Building number 67

Phone: 44387878

For More Information

Should you have any questions regarding this Notice or want to learn more about our security practices, please read our Security Statement section, or contact us at: Privacy.Office@Arabbank.com.jo

Changes to the this Notice

We reserve the right to update this Notice to reflect changes to our information practices in alignment with the Law.  Any updates will become effective immediately after posting the updated Notice on our website.