Skip to content Skip to Search
Skip navigation

Iraq reviews 70 digital bank applications

By Pramod Kumar
Computer, Electronics, Laptop Iraq's central bank has conducted thorough studies before establishing the regulatory framework for licensing digital banks Iraq bank Unsplash.com/rupixen
Iraq's central bank has conducted thorough studies before establishing the regulatory framework for licensing digital banks

Iraq’s central bank is reviewing applications for 70 digital banks to drive fintech growth.

Digital banks are prevalent worldwide, managing financial transactions between $5 to $7 trillion annually, state-run Iraqi News Agency reported, citing Central Bank of Iraq governor Ali Al-Alaq.

He said Iraq has conducted thorough studies before establishing the regulatory framework for licensing digital banks.

No other details were given.

Person, Electronics, Mobile Phone

Newsletter
Get the Best of AGBI delivered straight to your inbox every week

In May 2023, Saudi Arabia’s Arab National Bank (ANB) said it would invest $38.2 million to set up a new bank in Iraq.

ANB, one of the kingdom’s largest lenders with assets of SAR214.04 billion ($57 billion), will own a 20 percent stake in the newly formed Arab Bank Iraq.

Meanwhile, Egypt will open its first digital bank – “onebank” – towards the end of the year.

MTI, a subsidiary of Banque Misr, is the first bank to have received approval to establish a digital bank by the Central Bank of Egypt since it issued licensing regulations for companies wishing to apply last July.

Latest articles

Traffic on Al Wahda Street in Sharjah, the main route connecting to Dubai. Many Dubai workers commute from Sharjah

‘Safe’ Sharjah attracts Kuwaiti investors to $950m project

The emirate of Sharjah has been praised as “safe and business-friendly” by a Kuwaiti developer who has formed a partnership to develop a AED3.5 billion ($950 million) housing project in its burgeoning local property market. Talal Al-Bahar, vice-chairman and CEO of Kuwait Real Estate Company (Aqarat), said that investors were attracted to Sharjah because of […]

Traveller is looking out of airport window at airplane. Silhouette of man waiting for his flight

Riyadh Air delays launch after Boeing setbacks

Riyadh Air has been forced to push back its launch date to the third quarter of 2025 after delays to deliveries from Boeing. The new Saudi airline had been scheduled to begin flying early this year.  It is a blow to Saudi Arabia’s tourism ambitions to attract 150 million visits a year. Riyadh Air was founded […]

KKR GDH Tarek Al Ashram Tara Davies Thani Bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi Omar Sultan Al Olam

KKR signs a $5bn Gulf data centre deal in Dubai

KKR, the American investment giant, and the data centre platform Gulf Data Hub (GDH), based in Dubai, have signed a strategic partnership to invest $5 billion in data centres serving the Gulf. A joint press release on Friday said that funds “affiliated with KKR” will also acquire a stake in GDH, although it did not […]

Jared Kushner's Affinity Partners and Eagle Hills have agreed to build a luxury hotel and apartment complex in Serbia’s capital, Belgrade

Eagle Hills plans Trump hotel project with Kushner

The Abu Dhabi-based developer Eagle Hills and Affinity Partners, an investment firm founded by Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, have agreed to build a luxury hotel and apartment complex in Serbia’s capital, Belgrade.  The project, on the site of the former Yugoslav defence ministry, will feature a 175-room Trump hotel as its centrepiece, and 1,500 […]