Iraq’s forecast 2024: Will the mobile eliminate the “cash”.. And what do we know about FIB Bank?
Baghdad – 964
Bankers and financial experts say that a remarkable jump in the number of Iraqis holding electronic payment cards, during the past months, is encouraging the expectation of major reforms in the type of commercial trading and financial services, and also leads to optimism for the success of the experience of “digital banks”, especially after the “first electronic bank” in Iraq (FIB) obtained a license from the Central Bank, to promote financial transactions through an application within mobile phones.
More than two million Iraqis have issued electronic bank cards over the past 10 months, according to the Association of Iraqi Banks.
The government says it is working to move towards electronic transactions with the aim of reducing corruption and money laundering and controlling the work of banks, instead of paying in fiat currency, but the process is proceeding slowly for various reasons, most notably the reluctance of citizens to adopt the card system, along with the failure of some commercial centers to deal with electronic POS points of sale.
Earlier this year, the government required malls, restaurants, private schools, universities, private colleges, gas processing stations of all kinds and locations and throughout Iraq, to open bank accounts and provide points of sale for electronic payment.
In addition to this path, which seems faltering despite its promising steps so far, local banks have dared to roll out the digital bank model that manages all its financial operations through mobile phones, according to specific criteria.
FIB says it is the first “Iraqi electronic bank” to offer online financial services, without having to check with the bank’s headquarters.
According to data published on its website, the bank relies more on technical experts than accountants, and the required jobs focus on programmers and technology engineers.
It is not yet clear the general indicators of the success of such banks in a country that has been accustomed to fiat currency for decades, and is now struggling to move to card payment late for all the countries of the region, but experts who spoke with the 964 network, said that the experience will constitute a paradigm shift in the Iraqi banking sector, although customers need to overcome their fears of digital transactions that are still new to the country.
Mahmoud Dagher, banker and financial expert for the 964 network:
An e-bank is a bank, like any traditional bank we do business with, but it doesn’t use routine methods that require meeting people in-person to complete and complete transactions.
The electronic bank conducts all its steps over the Internet, relying on digital tools in a special system.
Any citizen (or resident) can open online accounts, to withdraw and deposit funds in easy and secure steps.
Opening accounts and obtaining electronic cards is a good phenomenon, but an Iraqi gap in this area must be addressed, which has been exploited to withdraw the cash dollar outside Iraq and benefit from the price difference in the parallel market.
The e-bank move is a success for the banking sector by relying on electronic payment, but dollar exchange rates have not been affected by this issue so far.
Aland Saifuddin, Technical Director at FIB Bank, for Network 964:
FIB is the first digital bank in Iraq, operating with a license from the central bank.
The financial services we offer are very similar to what other banks offer, but through an in-mobile app.
Besides the digital service, there are branches of the bank in all governorates that provide their services to customers normally.
Anyone can open a bank account in the phone app, through easy and quick steps, and the customer can transfer or receive amounts while he is at home, within a very short time.
Customers’ rights are reserved because the central bank supervises the bank’s work and monitors the actions taken, as it does with the rest of the traditional banks.
Ali Tarek, Executive Director of the Association of Banks, Network 964:
The private banking sector has worked heavily on the development of infrastructure in terms of technology and many banking services are now available through electronic applications such as opening an account, issuing a bank card, transferring between funds, applying for loans and others.
The use of technology contributes to the access of banking services to all segments of society, and leads to increased financial inclusion.
Nabil Jabbar Al-Tamimi, financial expert for the 964 network:
The Iraqi government is trying with the Central Bank of Iraq to expand the work using electronic cards as one of the steps to localize funds for Iraqi government and private banks.
The first economic goal of the government is to provide cash primarily to banks to achieve development goals, and then other objectives that contribute to the process of pushing the commercial market, codifiing complexities and providing general facilities.
Iraqis rushed intensively to acquire electronic cards after government decisions that stipulated expanding the work of electronic cards, including limiting payment to gas stations with electronic payment cards, which may extend to exclusive means of payment for services provided by the government in general in the near future.
Electronic payment has several benefits, including the stability of the national currency, stimulus trade, tax discipline, ease of transactions, speed of trade and services, and control of state revenues.
Electronic payment requires the provision of appropriate infrastructures for such cash operations, such as servers, databases, control and protection programs, and payment and ATM ports.
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