KRG Details Progress of Digital Salary Banking Project
The KRG says 99% of salary recipients have registered with My Account, while 90% received September salaries digitally through the banking system.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - The Kurdistan Regional Government says 1.14 million salary recipients, equivalent to 99% of the total, have registered with the “MyAccount” banking program, while more than one million beneficiaries are now receiving their salaries digitally.
Figures released by the KRG Council of Ministers Presidency’s Department of Media and Information in October show that 1.07 million bank cards have been distributed, covering 94% of salary recipients.
For the September salary cycle, 1.02 million people received their salaries digitally, representing 90% of all salary recipients.
The KRG says the program is being implemented in coordination with and under the supervision of the Central Bank of Iraq, with the aim of expanding access to modern banking services and giving salary recipients greater control over their finances.
According to the government data, beneficiaries have so far received more than 11 trillion Iraqi dinars through the project. A further 62 billion dinars has remained in bank accounts, based on figures from six participating banks.
The program currently has nearly 800 ATMs operating across 200 locations. The government’s stated target is to raise that number to 1,000 ATMs in line with Central Bank of Iraq regulations.
Seven banks are listed as participating in the program: RT Bank, Cihan Bank, the National Bank of Iraq, the Iraqi Islamic Bank, Bank of Baghdad, the Trade Bank of Iraq and BBAC Bank.
RT Bank currently has the largest listed ATM network with 205 machines, followed by Cihan Bank with 177, the National Bank of Iraq with 158 and the Iraqi Islamic Bank with 121.
The digital salary system covers several categories of beneficiaries.
Civil servants form the largest group, with 398,293 people, or 39.2% of those receiving salaries digitally. Pensioners account for 313,844 beneficiaries, or 30.9%, while military personnel make up 237,763, or 23.4%. Families of martyrs account for 66,390 beneficiaries, or 6.5%.
By governorate, Erbil has the largest number of beneficiaries receiving salaries digitally, at 422,130, followed by Sulaimani with 372,194, Duhok with 196,741 and Halabja with 25,225.
The government also outlined several services available through the system, including advance notification of salary distribution dates, ATM withdrawals, access to banking products and the ability to use cards internationally.
Some elements of the program are still being expanded.
The KRG said salary recipients who have not yet registered will continue to be able to do so through public banks or the accounting units of their departments. The My Account team will also continue distributing bank cards to registered beneficiaries who have not yet received them.
Beneficiaries will also be allowed in the near future to change from one participating bank to another.
Users can withdraw cash from ATMs belonging to other banks, although a fee of 0.04% applies to each transaction, capped at 4,000 Iraqi dinars.
The government says salary-distribution schedules are published through the MyAccount WhatsApp channel, while beneficiaries can also seek support through their bank or the MyAccount contact center on 1991.