Saudi citizens and residents in the Kingdom went on bank card-swiping spree in 2013 when they made purchases or withdrew cash from ATM to the tune of a whopping SR802 billion.

While ATM withdrawals accounted for SR658.15 billion during the year, the volume of purchases made using bank cards in shopping malls, online portals, retails stores and pharmacies was SR144.32 billion.

A survey report said purchases in large shopping malls, retail stores and pharmacies using bank cards was up substantially compared to sales registered in 2012. The first and second quarters of 2013 witnessed an increase of 63 percent and 64 percent respectively over the corresponding quarterly periods in 2012.

The third quarter registered an increase of 44 percent over the corresponding period in 2012 while the last quarter registered the lowest percentage of increase a 37 percent compared to the corresponding period in 2012.

According to the report, in terms of withdrawals, the first quarter witnessed a 28 percent increase, the second quarter 17 percent increase and the last quarter 10 percent.

The report attributed the increased percentage of cash withdrawals to the increased numbers of ATMs. It stated that three banks have prominent presence in Saudi Arabia — Al-Rajhi, Riyad Bank and Al-Ahli. Al-Rajihi bank has about 3,644 ATMs accounting for about 26 percent of the total ATMs in the Kingdom, followed by Riyad Bank at 18 percent (2,520 machines) and Al-Ahli at 16 percent (2,252 machines).