ATM withdrawals up 4.9% in Q4

Cash withdrawals from teller machines in the UAE increased by nearly 4.9 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2011, indicating higher spending by the country’s eight million people, according to official data.

From around Dh20.4 billion in the third quarter of last year, the total value of financial transactions carried out through the UAESWITCH, which comprises nearly 840 ATM machines, swelled to about Dh21.4 billion in the fourth quarter, showed the figures by the Central Bank.

The number of transactions also grew to nearly 19.4 million from 18.2 million in the same period, the report showed.

“The increase means more money was taken out of banks and this indicates there was growth in spending by consumers in the fourth quarter,” an Abu Dhabi-based financial analyst said.

The Central Bank report showed there was a drop in the number of transactions carried through the connection of the UAESWITCH to the other GCC switches to 867,000 in the fourth quarter from 940,000 in the third quarter. Their value fell by 4.7 per cent to around Dh1.17 billion from Dh1.23 billion.

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