NEW YORK — The relatively young ATM industry in Syria will likely get a significant boost in its total number of cards when two United Nations relief agencies start using the machines to provide cash to Iraqi refugees.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the World Food Program will start providing between $100-$200 per month to 7,000 refugee families by issuing them ATM cards.
"The families have been interviewed by community services staff and identified as being in urgent need of financial assistance," media reports have quoted UNHCR spokesperson Jennifer Pagonis from Geneva, Switzerland. "They include women at risk, families with working children and refugees with chronic illnesses."
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It is unclear, however, how well the new system will work as many of the country's relatively few ATMs are concentrated in the business districts of major cities.
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