RIYADH: Cash withdrawal using ATMs in Saudi Arabia declined 5 percent in the third quarter of the year to reach SR141 billion, as compared to SR148 billion in the previous quarter, according to Saudi Central Bank data.
Banks’ cash withdrawals went down to SR55 billion at the end of the quarter from SR57 billion in the previous one, a 5 percent quarterly decline.
Moreover, cash withdrawals using Mada cards, a Saudi payment network, in the third quarter also decreased by SR4.13 billion to SR85.6 billion from SR89.8 billion in the second quarter, a decline of 5 percent.
On a monthly basis, cash withdrawals using Mada cards and banks decelerated in September by 2 and 3 percent, respectively. The former stood at SR27.8 billion, and the latter was SR17.8 billion in September.
The number of bank transactions declined to 230 million in the third quarter of this year from 235 million in the previous quarter, while Mada’s number of transactions declined by 6.3 million.
Looking at monthly data, the number of transactions using Mada fell in September by 3.2 percent to 53 million in the second consecutive month. It declined by 2.1 percent in August.