JEDDAH, 4 March 2006 — A marked change in people’s attitude toward automated banking was evident with the revealing of Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) statistics for 2005.
According to the latest SAMA statistics, the total amount of cash withdrawn from automated teller machines (ATMs) in the Kingdom hit its highest level in 2005, following a steady rise over the last seven years. The statistics show that the total amount of cash withdrawals from ATMs in Saudi Arabia reached SR245.9 billion ($65 billion) in 2005, marking a 22.7-percent increase from 2004 and rise of 136.6 percent from 1999. The reliance on automated banking in the Kingdom has boosted the total number of ATM transactions and ATM cards issued over the last seven years.
According to SAMA, Saudi banks issued 1.6 million new ATM cards in 2005. The total number of ATM cards issued in the Kingdom has reached eight million. This could mean that nearly half of the Kingdom’s population holds ATM cards. In 2004, the accumulated number of issued cards was 6.4 million; and between 1999 and 2005, the number of ATM cards almost doubled. The total number of ATM transactions in 2005 was 533 million compared to 412 million transactions in 2004 and 136 million in 1999.
The statistics also show that SR23 billion were withdrawn out of ATMs in December alone, thus making it the second-highest month of cash withdrawals after October when withdrawals hit SR26.6 billion. The surge for cash in October is believed to be part of the shopping rage for Ramadan and Eid holidays, fueled by the 15 percent increase in public sector salaries.
The December figures reflect a decrease by 13.5 percent from October cash withdrawals. Out of the SR23 billion, SR10.3 billion were withdrawn from Saudi ATM network (SPAN) while the remaining SR12.8 billion were withdrawn from ATMs located at banks.
In addition, the number of ATMs in the Kingdom, excluding those belonging to SAMA, increased by 11.8 percent from 2004, to 4,576 machines in 2005. In 2005, 484 new ATMs were introduced to the system with 163 ATMs coming from Al-Rajhi Bank alone. Al-Rajhi ATM network is the largest by far in the Kingdom as the bank accounts for one third of the Kingdom’s ATMs.
The National Commercial Bank (NCB), the bank with second largest ATM network of 931 machines, added 39 ATMs to its network in 2005. NCB introduced 16 ATMs in December. Between 2004 and 2005, Samba Financial Group added 46 new ATMs to its network so that the total number of its ATMs became 362 by the end of 2005.
Riyad Bank added 68 machines to its existing network in 2005. Banque Saudi Fransi added 20 ATMs in 2005 and SABB bank, formerly Saudi British Bank, added 18 ATMs. Saudi Hollandi Bank, who recently added two ATMs in December, added 11 ATMs in 2005. Bank AlJazira operated with a network of 61 ATMs in 2005 after the addition of 34 ATMs during the year.
The Saudi Investment Bank added one ATM in December and 18 ATMs throughout the year. Bank Albilad, which started its operation in mid 2005 with four ATMs, ended the year with a network of 31 ATMs. Emirate Bank is the only bank in the Kingdom which is still operating with one ATM from 2004.
