One of the big problems for Palestinian traders is the large cash surplus of shekels generated in the local market. According to estimates, this is currently at least NIS 6 billion, which the Palestinians claim the Bank of Israel has refused to accept and exchange for transferring dollars.
The surplus of shekels in cash was created as a result of three main factors - the wages of Palestinian workers in the Israeli market - about NIS 1.3 billion a month, trade with Israel, and the purchases made by Israeli Arabs in the PA.
As a result of the Israeli refusal to accept the shekels from the Palestinians, merchants are "stuck" with shekels because the Palestinian banks limit the value of deposits in Israeli currency. Thus, the ability of merchants to import goods from abroad (in dollars) is small. Also, Palestinians who want to transfer money abroad for other purposes is having difficulty doing so.
This "mountain of shekels" encourages calls from Palestinian economy leaders to switch to electronic payment, although the fee charged by business owners is still high.