Iraq to issue licenses for digital banks in early 2028

The Central Bank of Iraq. Photo: AFP Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – The Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) confirmed on Wednesday that final approvals for the establishment of digital banks will be issued in early 2028. The spokesperson for the CBI, Mahmoud Dagher, told the state-run Iraqi News Agency (INA) that final permissions for digital banking licenses will be granted after the banking reform phase is complete, by the end of 2027 or the start of 2028. Oliver Wyman is presently leading the banking reform process, and organizations that sought to establish digital banks and gained preliminary permissions are aware of the timescale for gaining final authorizations, according to Dagher. In October 2025, the CBI has received approximately 80 applications to create digital banks in the country. Licenses can only be awarded following a set of criteria based on market research, the nature of the business, and other countries’ experiences, where the number of digital banks is often limited to three or four. Earlier in 2025, officials from the CBI and representatives from Oliver Wyman discussed a banking reform proposal offered by the Iraqi Private Banks League (IPBL) to modernize Iraq’s banking industry and align operations with worldwide practices. The strategy aims to stabilize the banking sector to function more securely and effectively, as well as local legislation, while strengthening governance, compliance, and risk management. The CBI noted that adopting the strategy will boost local and international trust in Iraq’s banking industry. Iraq’s central bank reached an agreement earlier with Oliver Wyman to perform a thorough analysis of the conditions under which Iraqi banks are prohibited from conducting transactions in US dollars. Oliver Wyman focuses on improving bank procedures to align with international standards, creating effective strategies to reintegrate Iraqi banks that have been barred from conducting US dollar transactions back into the banking sector, both domestically and internationally.