SAMA warns banks of ATM violations

The Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) is monitoring local banks that allowed their VIP clients to withdraw in excess of SR 5,000 through multiple transactions a day, banking sources revealed. The banks aimed to avoid violating regulations of the agency.
Clients expressed their discontent of the current situation, as their banks had allowed them in the past the withdrawal of more than SR 20,000 through their ATMs.
“These transactions are in violation of SAMA regulations, which stipulate that all banks should allow withdrawal of no more than SR 5,000 a day via ATMs, without any discrimination between clients,” Talar Hafiz, secretary-general of the Media and Banking Awareness Committee of Saudi Banks, told Al-Eqtisadiah newspaper.
He added that this action comes in line with SAMA’s keenness to deal with electronic transactions in the best interest of clients, in particular on a security level as some clients may be subject to theft and fraud.
One client, Majed Al-Kanani, said that the new regulations allowed some clients, who wished to withdraw large amounts of money, to open other accounts in a number of banks to obtain several ATM cards. “One bank allowed me to take out SR 20,000 at a time, on condition that my current account balance be SR 1 million,” he added.