Hello Pin Number, My Old Pal!

As we get closer to going home for the holidays, I'm beginning to think of more and more adjustments I'll have to make. Here in Saudi, I've grown very accustomed to carrying large quantities of cash on me. The compound commissary, snack bar, coffee shop, restaurant, dry cleaners and barber only accept cash. At the major stores and in every store in the malls, plastic is accepted. However, there can be a few problems associated with using them here:

1)  They often have problems with their credit card machines. It is quite common to walk into a store and be informed they are only taking cash as their whole system is down. 

2) Regardless  of how conscientious you've been about putting travel alerts on your account, your bank may still seem to enjoy stopping a transaction or two every now and again just to keep you on your toes; which is always fun particularly after they've already rung up and bagged a huge grocery purchase. 

3) Some of the cashiers seem to be unscrupulous, untrained, or both, and will double charge you or overcharge you or both. We are currently disputing a charge with our bank at a store where we were told our transaction didn't go through and were handed the declined receipt--in Arabic of course. We then paid with cash and left. Guess what showed up in our online banking the next day? You guessed it...the so-called declined transaction. 

4) Even at some of the stores that accept cards, their systems have difficulty recognizing non-Saudi bank cards and may not authorize the transaction. For all these reasons, it's far easier to take money out of the ATM once or twice a month and pay for your purchases with cash.

Back home, we come from a culture that largely (at least for my generation) uses plastic for everything. I almost never had cash, treating it very much like a novelty item. Anything I needed in every place I could think of accepted my debit cards. It will be strange to use my card to pay for things again, to not need to break the 500 (SAR) you're carrying. It was very difficult to get accustomed to a cash culture when I first got here, especially with the currency difference. I'm very comfortable with Euros, but had never seen a Riyal. It'll be nice to shop for things without having to do the automatic conversion in my head!

And so now I will get to return to using my beloved, personalized debit cards. I will once again earn my points at the gas station, the grocery store and when eating out. Get ready BofA, rest time's over!

This chick's about to put some serious wear and tear on her cards!:)