Okaz/Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — Some state employees have complained that they were unable to withdraw their salaries due to congestion before ATMs in their neighborhoods on the payday. Talat Hafez, chairman of the Banking Awareness Committee, explained that this congestion was expected over the next few days as a result of the disbursement of social security benefits and Hafiz subsidy transfers ahead of the Eid Al-Fitr holidays. The situation raised concerns that many people will not be able to access their money in order to meet their family needs for Eid. Increasing complaints about malfunctioning ATMs and machines unable to dispense cash prompted calls by members of the Shoura Council upon the authorities to strictly monitor bank services. They have demanded that banks provide mobile ATMs in affected areas during the holiday rush. There are more than 12,000 ATMs operated by various banks across the Kingdom serving some 15 million card-using customers. With hundreds of new cards being issued each day, banks are expected to install more cash dispensing machines in various localities to serve the swelling Saudi population, which grows at 2.5 percent annually, said Hafez. The congestion at ATMs is normal around this time of year as a result of a large number of people withdrawing cash to pay Zakat and meet the expenses of Eid celebrations, said Dr. Osama Falali, an economist. Falali urged citizens to choose the right time for using ATMs to avoid congestion. Adel Al-Salmi, a retired state employee, expressed fears that the ATMs would run out of cash before the Eid holiday. This period also witnesses malfunctioning of many ATMs, probably because of overuse, he said. Ali Ahmed, a teacher, said ATMs witness unprecedented congestion during the period starting from 20th of Ramadan. He called upon bank officials to ensure liquidity and deploy mobile maintenance teams round the clock to avoid problems caused to the public by malfunctioning ATMs. Dr. Said Al-Sheikh, member of the Economic and Energy Committee in Shoura Council, called upon Saudi banks to operate mobile ATMs and to constantly feed them with cash to ensure customer satisfaction.
