JEDDAH, 11 October 2007 — Saudi Arabia’s national and international banks said yesterday that they were fully prepared to meet the situation arising out of the anticipated rush of withdrawals through their automated teller machines (ATMs). Each of them has provided for multimillion riyals through their ATMs so that their customers face no difficulty during the holiday period. Usually, billions of riyals are withdrawn from thousands of ATMs that are installed in various cities and towns during the Eid vacation.
Inquiries with banks including Samba, SABB, Banque Saudi Fransi, Saudi Hollandi, Riyad and Albilad showed that they all have made full preparations for operating their strategically-located branches and equipping their ATMs with enough cash.
Consumer spending in 2007 has improved over that in 2006 but it is still below the figure for 2005, which was the best year so far during the current economic boom, according to a senior. executive at Albilad Bank. “However, their spending during the Eid holiday is increasing year after year,” he added, with the growing number of young consumers and the ongoing economic boom,” he added.
“We have supported all ATM machines throughout the Kingdom by equipping them with maximum possible cash,” SABB’s chief economist Dr. John Sfakianakis told Arab News last night.
In Saudi Arabia, SABB has more than 374 ATMs out of a total 7,060. In 2006, SR279 billion were withdrawn from ATMs, near 14 percent increase over the previous year. ”In the past our ATMs were not geographically well covered. We also had some ATM coverage issue in Riyadh. But today the coverage has improved tremendously in Riyadh and of course in other parts of the Kingdom,” he said.
The Kingdom is still a cash-based transaction-oriented economy in contrast to other economies that use credit cards for various transactions, Sfakianakis said. In 2006, there were nine billion ATM transactions across the Kingdom as against Canada, a country with 32 million population with widespread use of credit cards, recorded fewer than 1.1 billion transactions. “What is needed now is the ATM system should remain fully operational and there should be no breakdowns,” he added.
The National Commercial Bank (NCB) yesterday announced the completion of its technical and human resource preparation to meet the needs of its clients expected during the Eid Al-Fitr vacation, which starts today and ends on Wednesday.
Asked what could be the volume of withdrawals during the Eid, AlSharif Khalid AlGhalib, individual banking sector head at the bank, said: “We expect withdrawals to be about or more than SR2.5 billion, an increase of nine percent from last year.
The NCB will provide the money through 1,175 ATMs and via its 21 branches operating during the holiday period covering various regions and cities of the Kingdom.
This is in addition to the bank’s branches at international airports, which operate around the clock, especially in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam backed by the bank’s alternative service channel system.
In fact, he added, the bank’s 21 branches will operate during the holiday period. They include Jurool in Makkah; King Abdul Aziz Street branch in Madinah; Airport Terminal, Olaya 30, Khazan and Rayyan branches in Riyadh; Shihar branch in Taif; Airport Terminal, King Saud Street and Andalus District in Dammam; King Abdul Aziz Street branch in Alkhobar; Makkah Road, Palestine Street, Airport Lounge and North City branches in Jeddah; Faslia and Prince Sultan Street branches in Najran, and Industrial Branch in Khamis Mushayt.
Moreover, he said telephone services would allow implementation of all banking operations for accounts and balance inquiry, and payment of invoices for services to subscribers of this service.
Rayis Bin Mahfouz, head of the bank’s alternative distribution channel, said that the bank had completed updating the regulations to accept cash deposits being the first bank in the Kingdom to provide the service.
“NCB continues its leading role in terms of its recent launch of detailed account via the ATM,” he said. Customers from the commercial sector can manage accounts appropriation and conversion automatically through service on the Internet as well as inquire about accounts and investment funds, he added.
