Lebanese Bank Receives An Award While Restricting Depositors Access To Their Money

Al-Mawarid Bank sent text messages to its customers stunning them with the news that it has been awarded the title of “Strongest Bank in Overcoming Crises” by the International Union of Arab Bankers.

Established in 1980 by Salim Khaireddine, Maroun Kissirwani, and Omar Jundi, Al-Mawarid Bank currently has 19 branches across Lebanon.

The title was awarded to the bank by Joseph Torbay, president of the International Union of Arab Bankers and former president of the Association of Banks in Lebanon.

Al-Mawarid says on its website that it continued to serve its customers “in the best way possible” despite the tight withdrawal limits.

“There is no doubt that the past year was a year full of challenges and difficult circumstances at all levels, especially at the level of the banking sector. However, with persistence and solidarity, we worked hard to overcome these challenges and circumstances,” Al-Mawarid said.

However, people in Lebanon, including customers of Al-Mawarid Bank, have been restricted in what and how they can use from their deposits by banks imposing their own capital control to “overcome” their own crisis.

In a call to the bank, The961 was informed that they’re no longer activating new accounts and that the withdrawal limit they have for existing accounts goes up to a maximum of 6 million LBP per month, which amounts to about $690 at the black market rate of 8,700 LBP.

Simultaneously, a current customer of Al-Mawarid just shared with The961 that, if an account is in USD, they can only withdraw $500 on the banks’ official rate (3,900) per month.