Rafidain Bank ( lit. ''Bank of Mesopotamia'') is an Iraqi bank headquartered in

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

, with 146 branches inside Iraq as well as branches in

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and

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. Its headquarter is in central Baghdad. , Rafidain Bank was the largest bank in Iraq and had around 45% of banking assets in Iraq.

History

The bank was established in 1941 and became a state-owned bank in the 1960s wave of Ba'ath nationalisation. In 1988, the Rafidain's non-performing assets were carved out into the

Rasheed Bank Rasheed Bank () is the second largest Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran� ...

. Before the First Gulf War, Rafidain Bank "was the Arab world’s largest commercial bank with total assets of USD 47 billion." The Bank was badly damaged by the first Gulf War and the economic sanctions against

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

. These sanctions were behind the closure of Rafidain's

Branch in 1990. During the second Gulf War, the bank was again badly hit. It is estimated that around a third of Rafidain's branches were destroyed during the second Gulf War and that the bank lost around $300m USD through looting. In 2007, Bayan Jabor, the Iraqi

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

, signed a contract with

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companie
B-Plan Information Systems
and Misys to rebuild the bank, in a turnkey contract to supply a core banking system, hardware, communications systems, and training to Rafidain Staff, across all branches inside and outside Iraq. The project covered basic retail banking and trade finance. Advanced banking functions such as ATM networks, credit card management and

internet banking Online banking, also known as internet banking, virtual banking, web banking or home banking, is a system that enables customers of a bank or other financial institution to conduct a range of financial transactions through the financial institut ...

were considered by the

Ministry of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

in later stages.

References

External links

Official website

Official website of Rafidain Project Implementer

Official website of Rafidain Project Software supplier
Companies based in Baghdad Banks of Iraq Banks established in 1941 1941 establishments in Iraq Iraqi brands {{asia-bank-stub

History

See also

References

External links