JEDDAH: A number of people in this Red Sea port city are withdrawing more money than they actually need from ATMs for fear the machines may either break down or run out of cash over the Eid holidays.
Their fears are fueled by the fact that they would have no other way of getting money as the banks are closed for nine days -- from Aug. 25 to Sept. 2.
Local newspaper reports claim there are currently more than 2.5 million withdrawals and other transactions every day.
According to the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, there are 11,000 ATMs in the Kingdom.
The agency says there are close to 83,000 points of sale connected to the SPAN network, and this could be an alternative mode of buying merchandise instead of cash.
It added that in 2010, more than 1.07 billion transactions were carried out through ATM cards worth SR468 billion.
In anticipation of the expected rush during the holidays, the Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) has asked all commercial banks to issue cards that can access the SPAN network to make it easy for customers to carry out cashless transactions without paying any extra fees.
Some residents told Arab News they were always keen to avoid queuing up for ages in front of ATMs so they avoid peak hours. They prefer to make withdrawals during the early morning hours and the early afternoon.
The areas where they are situated are also a factor. If the ATMs are in a lightly populated neighborhood, they are not so much in demand.
An Arab News survey of various areas revealed that withdrawing money is not that much of an issue. However, in busy areas such as malls and markets long queuing times are a real problem.
Jeddah resident Ahmad Abdullah said he needs to visit three to four ATMs before he is able to withdraw any money either because of the queues, shortage of cash in the machine or a sudden fault in the network.
Municipal sources complained to Arab News about the poor distribution of the ATMs. "Most banks go for cheap rent in areas that are not densely populated," said one employee, who did not want to be identified.
Fellow resident Um Ahmad also complained that a number of commercial shops are not connected to the SPAN network and do not accept debit cards.
Though the ATMs are mostly dirty and are poorly placed, bank staff believe that they are the best and most advanced of their kind in the world.
A number of shop owners who talked to Arab News said they opted to stay away from the SPAN network because of the number of security issues that have come to the fore in the past years. They said people coming from outside the Kingdom, such as pilgrims, that are responsible for the problems.
© Arab News 2011
