Queues at banks to withdraw money

Pindiites have been seen standing in lines at branches of different commercial banks in Rawalpindi to withdraw money to meet their expenses. Migrant workers have remitted millions of rupees from overseas to their near and dear ones to facilitate them during Ramazan and on the Eid vacation.Banks are witnessing a rush of customers withdrawing cash ahead of the upcoming Eid festivity. Since the advent of the holy month of Ramazan, the banks in the city have been witnessed packed with customers.“Pakistani expatriates remit a colossal amount from overseas long before the start of Ramazan. The remittance was much higher in the first week of Ramazan from the amount received in the week earlier, according to a bank data. Total remitted amount in the second week of Ramazan was quite huge, the banks data shows,” says Shahzad Abbas, an official from a private bank located on old Airport Road.“We are finding it difficult to tackle a large number of customers, who wait in queues before the cash counters for transactions. The rush further intensifies when the banks open after a gap of off-day at the weekend and also on account of change in banks’ Ramazan timings,” says Dua-e-Zainab, an official at a private bank situated in Commercial Market, Satellite Town.“There are, of course, cash withdrawal pressures, but we were ready to handle it as we took all sorts of measures beforehand, including reserving enough money, to tackle the rush, therefore, so we didn’t face any difficulty,” says Haider Rizvi, another official from the same bank.“I have been standing in queue for half an hour. It may take a few more minutes to complete my transaction,” says Wafa Zaidi, whose husband sent her money from Italy through the electronic payment system at a city bank. She was withdrawing money from a bank located in Saddar on the Bank Road.“Our bank branch is borrowing money from other branches as the majority of customers are withdrawing large amounts of money ahead of Eid,” says Anwar Raza, the manager of a bank on Murree Road.Muntazir Mehdi, bank driver, says: “The rush is seen in almost all the branches of banks in different areas of the city. Many customers, who left their homes or offices late, got stuck in traffic jams and failed to withdraw money on the day they desired as they could not reach the branches within Ramazan banking hours. Many customers were turned away as they arrived at the bank a little late.”Talking to this scribe, zonal head of a bank, Aneeqa Naqvi, says: “Our branches are crammed with customers to complete transactions ahead of Eidul Fitr.

from The News International - Islamabad http://bit.ly/2KbGKOR