As banks in Egypt close their doors for four consecutive days from last Friday to Monday on the occasion of Easter holidays, ATMs are the only way for customers to withdraw funds from their banks. Therefore, banks supplied ATMs with more funds to meet the customers' needs. Retail banking officials elaborated that banks will supply ATMs which witness higher demand with more banknotes as banks seek to foster the customers' confidence in the banking system. The National Bank of Egypt (NBE) does not increase the volume of funds of ATMs in holidays as the bank supplies its ATMs with the maximum possible amount of banknotes in normal days, so there is no need to supply them with more, said Ayman Toulan, head of branches at NBE. The difference between replenishing ATMs on public off-days and on normal days is in the number of replenishes. The bank supplies ATMs mainly in Malls which witness high demand in holidays. NBE is increasing the number of ATMs monthly as they reached 1500 ATMs till now because they have become the easiest way of withdrawal of money, he added. Banque Misr supplies its ATMs with more banknotes in holidays, said Yehia El-Ahamy, head of retail banking sector at the bank. The bank will supply ATMs which witness higher demand in holidays such as those in touristic areas with more banknotes. The bank will constantly replenish its ATMs during the holiday as they are the only way for customers to withdraw their funds. Banque Misr has more than 1000 ATMs across all governorates in Egypt. The bank's average ATM withdrawal volume reaches EGP 3.2 billion.
