Central Bank Governor: We have received 80 applications to establish digital banks.

The Governor of the Central Bank of Iraq, Ali Al-Alaq, announced on Thursday that the bank has received approximately 80 applications to establish digital banks, confirming that the names of the approved digital banks will be announced soon.

Al-Alaq told the Iraqi News Agency (INA): "The Central Bank has received between 70 and 80 applications to establish a digital bank. This number can only be licensed according to a set of criteria based on market studies, the nature of the business, and the experiences of other countries, where the number of digital banks usually does not exceed two, three, or four."
He continued, "Therefore, we have begun vetting processes to determine requirements in a way that ensures that licenses are granted to entities with the best qualifications." He emphasized, "We are now in the final stages of announcing the banks that will be licensed."
He added, "Before making the final decision, we engaged Oliver Wyman to review the criteria set by the Central Bank, based on which licenses will be granted."
Al-Alaq explained that "the aforementioned company has been studying these criteria over the past few days, having been preoccupied with the banking reform file and the comprehensive plan, and we believe we will receive a final answer within the next few days."