SAMA announces operating hours for replenishing, maintaining ATMs, money transfer during Ramadan

The Saudi Central Bank has specified the operating hours for replenishing and maintaining ATMs and transferring money during the holy month of Ramadan 1446 AH.

In a circular to the banking sector, it stipulated that cash transfer operating hours for branches, cash centers, transfer centers, exchange centers, and the retail sector should be from 9:00 AM to 10:00 PM. The circular also emphasized that ATM replenishment and maintenance operating hours should be 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including official holidays and weekends, for major cities (Makkah, Madinah, Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, and Khobar), commercial centers, airports, and train stations. For the rest of the Kingdom, the operating hours should be from 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM, except for those specified by security authorities. He stressed the importance of all banks and exchange centers adhering to the business hours shown below throughout the holy month of Ramadan. He also noted his authority to issue instructions related to financial institutions and their operations, noting the need for banks and exchange centers to adhere to the security precautions stipulated in the Regulations for the Transportation of Money, Precious Metals, and Valuable Documents, its implementing regulations, and the circulars issued by the Central Bank in this regard.

Article Two of the Regulations for the Transportation of Money, Precious Metals, and Valuable Documents stipulates that this regulation includes financial institutions and companies operating in the Kingdom whose nature of work requires the transportation of money, precious metals, and valuable documents, such as banks, exchange offices, investment or insurance companies and institutions, as well as precious metal factories in the Kingdom, their showrooms, and retail outlets, with regard to the transportation of precious metals. This is in addition to Saudi institutions and companies licensed to practice private civil guarding when engaged in the transportation of money, precious metals, and valuable documents. Article 6 of the Regulations for the Transportation of Cash, Precious Metals, and Valuable Documents requires all entities licensed to carry out this activity to notify the relevant Public Security authority of any transportation operation whose value exceeds five hundred thousand riyals well in advance. The authority must adhere to the proposed route and not change it without coordination with that authority. Cash receipts and delivery must be adhered to during official working hours at banks and exchange institutions and companies. According to Article 15 of the Regulations, anyone who violates the provisions of the Regulations shall be subject to one or more of the following penalties: (a warning, a financial fine not exceeding one hundred thousand riyals, temporary suspension of the license, or cancellation of the license). The Regulations also allow anyone against whom a penalty decision other than a warning has been issued to file a grievance before the Board of Grievances.