If you regularly use a credit card in Saudi Arabia, you’ve probably encountered at one time or another technical difficulties. It usually goes like this: The shopkeeper swipes your card, waits a few moments, nothing happens. He swipes your card again, waits a few moments — meanwhile, you hope the card isn’t being charged twice — then he smiles apologetically, returns your card and asks if you have any cash to make your purchase.
This problem has persisted for some time, long enough for one to wonder if anyone is trying to fix the problem of faulty connections, arbitrary charge-rejections or other problems that cause you spend a few extra minutes at the cashier.
The problem persists with debit cards, too. In fact, it seems vendors are less likely to be able to accept debit card purchases.
The persistence of this problem is very annoying to people and negatively affects the economy. Shoppers spend a lot of time choosing products they want to buy only to be rebuffed at the checkout lane where they find their perfectly legitimate purchase is rejected due to problems with the network. Without a pocket of riyals, shoppers in this situation are forced to leave the store empty handed and a bit frustrated.
As a result of problems with the system, many vendors hang signs next to their card-swiping machines that say “Cash Only”. The problem is that in this day and age, people in Saudi Arabia are increasingly averse to carrying around a lot of cash. The old days of going to the bank and withdrawing huge amounts of cash without concern for theft are quickly leaving us. The security and ease by which people can use debit or credit-based plastic makes carrying cash pointless.
The concept of credit cards is to make operations easy. This made many people apply for credit cards and debit cards knowing it is an important tool for shopping. (It is halal — and indeed wise — to use such instruments provided you pay off your balance in full each month to avoid the penalties.)
But the biggest problem with using cards is the communication failures in the network. Officials should work on solving this problem because many people have complained not just about being inconvenienced but also about charges hitting their accounts when they shouldn’t have. Mistakes like that can take a long time to work out, involving numerous phone calls and numerous explanations of the same problem each time you’re passed to yet another representative inside the Byzantine limbo of customer service, a mysterious and frustrating place where nobody can actually help you. Every time you’re passed off to another person, you are forced, once again, to listen to the bad music or commercials that play while you’re stuck on hold. By the time you get the problem worked out, you might swear off the use of debit or credit cards, believing them to be more trouble than they’re worth.
I wonder why in other countries the system simply works better.
One other point: The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency should clarify its consumer protection rules. In the US, customers who are victims of somebody using their card without their permission can complain to the bank. By law the bank must immediately reimburse the charge and then investigate the issue. If they find the customer at fault, they can reverse the reimbursement, but in many cases the customer is given the security of knowing that he or she has some protection.
Consumer protection practices at the cash register are also more secure in other countries — with vendors asking for supplementary identification when customers use their plastic. I’ve never been asked for ID when I make charges here. And this should be a concern for all people who carry plastic in their wallets.
