RIYADH, 31 January 2006 — Governor of Riyadh Prince Salman inaugurated at the governorate headquarters yesterday the social security payment by ATM cards to beneficiaries.
Prince Salman said he appreciated the move by the General Organization for Social Insurance, which is aimed at facilitating the payment process of the monthly allowance to elderly people by ATM machines.
This is the first time social security payments will be made monthly instead of annually as in the past. A total of 1.2 million Saudis and their families will benefit from the move. The beneficiaries include the elderly, widows, orphans, divorcees and the handicapped.
The first beneficiary has received his ATM card yesterday in the presence of Abdul Mohsen Al-Akkas, minister of social affairs. The payments by ATMs, however, will begin today, the first day of the new Hijri year.
Al-Akkas pointed out that a total of 47,030 families in Riyadh will benefit from the project and a sum of SR50,778,014 will be paid to the beneficiaries.
This service will be available at 1,480 ATM machines belonging to the Al-Rajhi Bank Kingdomwide. The beneficiary will have to register his thumb impression on an inkpad in a specially designed module attached to the ATM terminal.
Under Article 27 (Welfare Rights) of the Kingdom’s Basic Law of Governance, the state guarantees the rights of the citizen and his family in cases of emergency, illness and disability and in old age. It supports the system of social security and encourages institutions and individuals to make charitable contributions.
