Banking woes

It seems a lot of people did not get their salaries this month because the banks have been closed for about a week or so, between New Year's, Sheikh Maktoum's passing, and the Eid al Adha holidays.

What upset me the most was this quote in 6Days today:

One bank official said last night that there was nothing stopping people withdrawing cash from ATM machines, but said that people whose salaries had not yet been paid into their accounts “should always plan for emergencies.”

Too bad they did not publish that idiot's name. Who is he to tell people to plan for emergencies? Has he ever thought about how the security guard who works in his building, who makes 800 dhs a month, who sends 600 of those dirhams to sustain his family back home, and who lives off 200 dhs for everything from food, to transportation, to clothing, to housing is supposed to plan for emergencies? Or how the poor laborers who are barely able to make ends meet are supposed to plan for emergencies?

Here's another thing that upset me: it seems some banks hold some payrolls for a day or two, invest them into some funds, and make a couple of days' worth of interest before depositing them in the accounts of the employees. So, say my salary gets transferred to the bank on the 1st of December for example, the bank holds it for 2 days, and only deposits my salary into my account on the 3rd of December. Meanwhile, the bank has profited by generating interest in those two days.

I don't know how prevalent this illegal practice is, but something should be done about this. The 2 days delay don't really affect me, but why should banks profit from something that's not really theirs?