This is a companion to our look at what Kuwaiti and Qatari banks publish about deposit rates. That page asked what you could earn. This one asks what it takes to open and run the account in the first place.
Search for “NBK tariff of charges” and one of the first documents you will reach, hosted on NBK’s own site, is a retail tariff denominated in Bahraini dinars with an effective date of 1 January 2016. It is NBK Bahrain. Anyone building a Kuwait comparison from search results alone will put Bahraini fees into a Kuwaiti article. The currency is the only thing that gives it away.
Gulf Bank is the only one that publishes a salary threshold
Gulf Bank runs a named Expat Salary Package and publishes its terms on the product page. Eligibility is stated as non-Kuwaitis with a salary of KD 400 or more, working in the government, private or oil sector, and described as aimed at newly recruited first-time employees and professionals.
The published benefits are specific: lending of up to KD 70,000 over up to 15 years, a free Visa or Mastercard credit card for the first year only, free online and mobile banking, free SMS alerts per transaction, free telebanking, and discounts at more than forty merchants through Gulf Rewards. Cheque books are priced at KD 2 for ten leaves, KD 5 for twenty-five and KD 7 for fifty.
What the page does not state is equally clear once you look for it: no minimum account balance, no interest rate on savings or lending, no annual fee after the first year on that credit card, and no APR on the KD 70,000.
The KD 70,000 is not Gulf Bank’s number
This is the part that changes how you read every Kuwaiti lending offer.
The Central Bank of Kuwait sets the limits, and they apply to every bank in the country. Under Instructions No. 2/IBS/161/2004, effective 6 June 2004:
- Consumer finance may not exceed 15 times monthly salary after deductions, subject to a maximum of KD 15,000, repayable over a maximum of five years.
- Personal instalment finance may not exceed KD 70,000, including the maximum limit for consumer finance, repayable over a maximum of fifteen years.
And under Circular No. 2/IBS,IIS/215/2008, effective 30 March 2008, total instalments on consumer loans may not exceed 40% of the borrower’s net salary after deductions, or 30% for pensioners.
So “up to KD 70,000 over 15 years” is the regulatory ceiling stated as a product feature. It is accurate, and it is not a distinguishing offer, because no bank in Kuwait can exceed it. The number that actually determines what you can borrow is the 40% instalment-to-salary test applied to your own payslip.
One further point from the instructions: the substantive lending rules contain no differential treatment based on nationality. Reporting forms distinguish Kuwaitis from non-Kuwaitis; the limits themselves do not.
NBK publishes account mechanics, not expat terms
NBK’s Current Account page is specific about the account and silent about expatriates. The required opening amount is KD 500 or more. There is no ongoing minimum balance and no minimum balance fee. The account is explicitly non-interest bearing. The stated eligibility is age 21 or over, with no nationality condition given. Overdrawn balances attract 0.5% of the overdrawn amount.
NBK also publishes a consumer tariff in Kuwaiti dinars covering the running costs:
| Item | Charge |
|---|---|
| Account closure within 6 months | KD 5 |
| Account statement, less than 1 year old | KD 1 per page |
| Banking certificate (clearance or balance) | KD 5 |
| Debit card issuance, annual | KD 5 |
| Debit card replacement, lost or stolen | KD 10 |
| ATM withdrawal abroad | 3% or KD 1.25, whichever is higher |
| Local transfer within NBK, individual account | KD 1 |
| International SWIFT transfer | KD 11 for direct transfers in the same currency |
| Cheque book, 10 cheques | KD 2 |
| Dormant account activation | KD 5, one time, at the branch |
The tariff carries no effective date. That is not a small omission on a fee schedule. It means you cannot tell whether you are reading this quarter’s pricing or something set several years ago, and there is no way to resolve it from the document.
Boubyan publishes the most current tariff and the least product detail
Boubyan’s position is the mirror image of Gulf Bank’s.
Its tariff is dated April 2026, which makes it the most current retail fee document published by any of the three, and among the most current we found anywhere in the Gulf while researching this series. It gives card issuance and renewal fees from KD 50 for a basic Visa or Mastercard up to KD 250 for Infinite, Elite and metal cards, with a prepaid card at KD 10. Standard card replacement is KD 15. Statement fees run KD 1 a page for the current year, rising through KD 5, KD 10 and KD 20 for older records. An internal transfer within Boubyan is KD 0.500 and a local or international SWIFT transfer is KD 11. Account closure before six months have elapsed is KD 5. No monthly account maintenance fee or minimum balance fee is listed for personal accounts.
What Boubyan does not publish is the thing you would want before choosing it. Its personal account pages list six account types and three specialised packages, including one for affluent expatriates, and carry no minimum salary, no minimum balance and no expected profit rate on any of them. That is consistent with what we found when we looked at deposit rates: Boubyan describes pre-agreed profit rates without publishing a number.
As an Islamic bank, Boubyan pays a profit share rather than interest, and profit rates are set periodically rather than advertised as a fixed contractual rate. That is a structural feature of how the product works, not an oversight, and we cover the mechanics separately in our piece on Islamic and conventional banking structures.
The three, on what they disclose
| NBK | Gulf Bank | Boubyan | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Expat salary threshold | Not published | KD 400+ | Not published |
| Account opening amount | KD 500 | Not published | Not published |
| Ongoing minimum balance | None required | Not published | None listed |
| Rate on the account | Non-interest bearing | Not published | Not published |
| Tariff document date | No date printed | February 2023 | April 2026 |
| Lending headline | Not on the account page | KD 70,000 over 15 years | Not published |
What to do with this
Three practical consequences follow.
Ask for the date on any fee schedule you are given. One of these three publishes a document you can age, one publishes a document three and a half years old, and one publishes a document you cannot age at all. A fee schedule without a date is not a commitment you can hold anyone to.
Do not treat a published lending ceiling as an offer. KD 70,000 over fifteen years is the Central Bank’s limit. What you will be offered is driven by the 40% instalment test on your net salary, which is a calculation you can do yourself before you apply.
Expect to ask, rather than read, for profit rates and salary thresholds. In this market, the absence of a published number is the norm rather than a red flag, and the answer exists at the branch. Ask for it in writing, and ask when it was last changed.
EW+ View
The gap between what Kuwaiti banks publish and what UAE banks publish is wide, and it is not really about the banks. In the UAE, the Central Bank requires a Key Facts Statement as the first document in the sales process, and UAE banks accordingly publish tier tables, salary thresholds and dated rates. Kuwait’s framework does not oblige the same disclosure, and the output looks different.
That is worth understanding rather than resenting. It tells you where to spend your effort: in Kuwait, the Central Bank’s instructions are the document that governs what any bank can do with you, and they are published in full. The bank’s website tells you considerably less than the regulator’s does.
Common questions
Only Gulf Bank publishes one. Its Expat Salary Package states eligibility as non-Kuwaitis with a salary of KD 400 or more, in the government, private or oil sector. NBK and Boubyan publish no expat salary threshold on their account or package pages, which means the answer for those two exists at the branch rather than on the website.
KD 500 or more, according to NBK's current account page. There is no ongoing minimum balance and no minimum balance fee after opening, and the account is explicitly non-interest bearing. The stated eligibility is age 21 or over, with no nationality condition given on that page.
Not for personal instalment finance. The Central Bank of Kuwait caps it at KD 70,000, including the consumer finance limit, over a maximum of fifteen years, under Instructions No. 2/IBS/161/2004. Consumer finance separately is capped at 15 times monthly salary after deductions to a maximum of KD 15,000 over five years. These limits apply to every bank, so a headline of KD 70,000 is the ceiling rather than a distinguishing offer.
Total instalments on consumer loans may not exceed 40% of the borrower's net salary after deductions, under Circular No. 2/IBS,IIS/215/2008 effective 30 March 2008. For pensioners the limit is 30%. This test, applied to your own payslip, generally determines what you can borrow long before any published ceiling does.
The substantive limits are not. The Central Bank's instructions distinguish Kuwaitis from non-Kuwaitis in reporting forms, but the lending caps, repayment periods and instalment-to-salary ratio contain no differential treatment based on nationality. Individual banks set their own eligibility criteria on top of those rules, and those do vary.
Boubyan. Its tariff list is dated April 2026. Gulf Bank's retail fees and commissions list is dated February 2023. NBK's consumer tariff carries no effective date at all, which means it cannot be aged from the document itself.
Because it is an Islamic bank, and the return on a deposit is a share of profit set periodically rather than a contractual interest rate advertised in advance. Its account pages describe pre-agreed profit rates without publishing a figure. That is a feature of how the product is structured rather than an omission, though it does mean the number has to be asked for.
Check the currency before you rely on it. A retail tariff hosted on NBK's site is denominated in Bahraini dinars with an effective date of 1 January 2016 and relates to NBK Bahrain, not NBK Kuwait. The Kuwaiti consumer tariff is a separate document, denominated in Kuwaiti dinars, reachable from NBK's bank tariff page.
Next steps
- Work out 40% of your net salary after deductions. That figure, not any published ceiling, is what determines your borrowing capacity in Kuwait.
- Ask any bank for its fee schedule in writing and check that the document carries a date. One of these three does not.
- If you are comparing an offer against a published lending headline, check it against the Central Bank instructions in the sources below before treating it as a differentiator.
- For profit rates and salary thresholds at NBK and Boubyan, ask at the branch and ask when the figure was last changed, since neither publishes them.
- Check the currency on any tariff PDF you download from a Gulf bank with operations in more than one country.
Further reading on ExpatWealthPlus
- What Kuwaiti and Qatari banks publish about deposit rates
- Qatar's three main banks on salary and fees
- What an expat can open in Saudi Arabia
- Investment platforms in Kuwait
- What it costs to trade Boursa Kuwait
Official sources
Every figure in this article is checked against the primary source. These are the places to verify the current position for yourself, since rates, rules and product terms change.
- Gulf Bank — Expat Salary Package →The KD 400 threshold, the KD 70,000 lending headline and the cheque book fees
- Central Bank of Kuwait — consumer and instalment finance rules →Instructions No. 2/IBS/161/2004 and Circular No. 2/IBS,IIS/215/2008, including the 40% test
- NBK — Current Account →The KD 500 opening amount, no ongoing minimum balance, non-interest bearing
- NBK — Bank Tariff →The consumer tariff list; note that it carries no effective date
- Boubyan Bank — tariff list, April 2026 →The most current retail tariff published by any of the three