Saudi banks have opened up more branches ahead of Haj to serve pilgrims in Makkah and Madinah. They have also opened up temporary offices at the entry points to the holy cities and set up mobile ATMs at the holy sites.

Banks have also made arrangements to ensure a continuous supply of cash in ATMs in anticipation of a large money withdrawal rate during the Haj season and Eid Al-Adha holidays.

“There is a 5 percent increase in the number of ATMs and automatic sales machines in Makkah and other holy sites compared to the last Haj season,” said Talaat Hafiz, secretary-general of the media committee for banking awareness at Saudi banks.

Banks have set up emergency teams to deal with ATM malfunctions during Haj.

Fake agents

The Haj Ministry has detected 13 fake Haj agents in the Makkah region, said Hatim Qadi, deputy minister and spokesman for the ministry.

“Monitoring authorities, including the Control and Investigation Board, will continue to look out for fake Haj agents who intend to cheat pilgrims by promising false services,” he said.

Qadi said the ministry has set up a committee to monitor advertisements by fake companies in newspapers and social media. “We have announced the names of 205 licensed companies through our websites,” said Qadi.

Pilgrim buses

The Car Syndicate has prepared 20,000 buses to transport 1.32 million pilgrims during this Haj season. “These buses will carry about 3.3 pilgrims between Makkah, Madinah and Jeddah and 4.6 million between the holy sites at Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifah,” said an official of the organization.

Buses ensure safe travel for pilgrims, the official said, adding that the organization makes sure the buses are roadworthy.

The syndicate has purchased 1,425 new buses for SR712.5 million, bringing the total number of buses to 20,888.