ELECTRONIC PAYMENT: A WHITE REVOLUTION AGAINST RED TAPE AND CORRUPTION
With the digital transformation sweeping across the world, electronic payment has become an essential tool for achieving transparency and enhancing economic efficiency.
In Iraq, the transition to digital payment systems is accelerating. This shift has become an urgent necessity to improve financial services and reduce reliance on cash transactions. Dr. Safad Al-Shammari, Chairman of the Baghdad Foundation for Digital Communication and Media, believes that electronic payment is not merely a technical option, but rather “a fundamental gateway to restructuring the economy and achieving development.”
He noted that “adopting this mechanism will reduce reliance on paper money and limit administrative and financial corruption by documenting transactions digitally, making them difficult to manipulate.” Al-Shammari explained that the system contributes to “stimulating investment in financial technology and expanding banking services, which enhances economic justice and reduces the gap in access to financial services.”
For his part, financial expert Mustafa Akram Hantoush points out that “electronic payment is an effective tool for rationalizing cash use and providing accurate data that contributes to more effective monetary policy formulation.” He explains that “the system increases the efficiency of cash management and reduces the cost of printing currency, which directly reflects on reducing inflation rates.”
Economist Duraid Al-Ghazi criticizes the limited implementation of the system, stressing that “the lack of adequate infrastructure in a number of governorates, weak coverage of electronic payment (POS) devices, and the lack of community education are all factors that hinder the generalization of the experience.” He points out that “a large percentage of citizens, especially in the outskirts, do not possess even the minimum level of knowledge about using these systems.”