Residents in Hail are raging over the fact that ATM machines were not supplying cash in their area, after ATM service workers went on strike claiming they had not received their two-month salary bonus.

According to the workers, their company refused to pay the two-month salary bonus that other private companies have dispensed in line with a royal decision. This event comes at a time when a high number of Hail residents decided to have more cash in hand for shopping.

Meanwhile, banks in Hail are trying to persuade workers to go back to their positions, while refusing to pay the bonus to their employees. According to local media, workers who went on strike will be replaced.

Banks have pumped over SR300 million into their branches in Hail during the strike, with a provision of an extra SR12 million in the event of emergency.

Said Al-Shaikh, senior economist at the National Commercial Bank, said citizens and expats will be able to use their credit or debit cards at points of sale for shopping as an alternative to ATM services. However, banks are not allowed to interfere in the internal affairs of ATM feeding companies.

“As most citizens and expats prefer to use sale points for shopping, I don’t believe there will be a huge impact on commercial activities because of poor ATM service,” Al-Shaikh told Arab News.

The number of operating ATM machines in the Kingdom has risen to more than 12,712 over the last years, while banks have opened 44 new branches in various regions of Saudi Arabia, raising the total number of branches to 1,696.