First Iraqi Bank

What First Iraqi Bank does

First Iraqi Bank (FIB) is a fully licensed, mobile-first digital bank headquartered in Baghdad and founded in 2021 by Kawa Junad, operating as Iraq's first branchless bank. The bank serves approximately 1.2 million individual customers and 25,000+ active business merchants across Iraq (as of December 2025) through native iOS and Android applications, a REST-based payment API, and 1,000+ cash withdrawal points, with four physical branches concentrated in Baghdad, Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, and Duhok. The product portfolio includes personal and corporate accounts, tiered Visa debit/credit cards (Business Classic, Platinum, Signature, Virtual), an ISIC UNESCO-endorsed student card, P2P and domestic transfers, QR code payments, term deposits (up to 9% annual return), Mudarabah-based Islamic financing (11% flat rate), cashback rewards, plus digital versions of traditional Iraqi savings mechanisms such as Dream Account and Group Saving (Jamaa). The platform is PCI-DSS v4.0.1 compliant, ISO-certified (2018, 2019, 2022), and holds dual authorization from the Central Bank of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government.

FIB's go-to-market is product-led, acquiring consumers via the mobile app (4.4 average store rating) and businesses through a developer ecosystem that includes SDKs for iOS, Android, WordPress, Magento, NodeJS, Python, Laravel, and PHP, plus OIDC-compliant single sign-on and integration with 500+ payment gateways. Revenue is generated through multiple streams: Mudarabah/Muqawala profit-sharing (75/25 customer/bank split), term deposit spreads, card issuance and management fees, P2P/ATM/international transfer commissions (0.1%–5%), merchant payment gateway take rates, and trade finance commissions (letters of guarantee, documentary credits). Pricing follows a freemium model for personal accounts (free account opening, pay-as-you-go transactions) layered with subscription-like Islamic financing and term deposit products. Visa Direct powers international remittances, and the bank offers trilingual support (Arabic, Kurdish, English), a cashback program at partner merchants, and salary localization services for corporate clients — positioning FIB as a comprehensive digital alternative to incumbent Iraqi banks in a low-penetration, cash-heavy market.

Name

First Iraqi Bank

Legal name

First Iraqi Bank Company

Website

https://fib.iq

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

First Iraqi Bank is Iraq's first fully licensed mobile-first digital bank, founded in 2021, serving ~1.2 million retail customers and 25,000+ business merchants through a Sharia-compliant platform with Visa card products, payment gateway APIs, and cash withdrawal points across Iraq.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Islamic Banking

NAICS

Commercial Banking (52211), Depository Credit Intermediation (5221), Nondepository Credit Intermediation (5222)

SIC

National Commercial Banks (6021)

akta.pro primary industry

Islamic Deposit & Account Products (Current/Savings/Investment Accounts) (FSABAGAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Islamic Corporate Banking (FSABAGAC), Embedded Deposit Accounts & Digital Wallet Infrastructure (FSAGALAE), Risk, Compliance & Controls for Embedded Finance (KYB/KYC/AML, Fraud, Disputes) (FSAGALAK), Bank Connectivity & Channels (Host-to-host, SWIFT, APIs, EB portals) (FSABAIAF)

Keywords

• Digital banking services
• Islamic finance products
• Mobile payment platform
• Merchant payment gateway
• Sharia-compliant banking

Headquarters

HQ city

Baghdad

HQ country

Iraq

HQ region

Middle East

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Islamic Financing (Mudarabah/Muqawala): FIB offers Islamic financing products with profit rates. The bank acts as Mudarib (investment manager) and depositors share 75% of profits while the bank retains 25%. Islamic financing profit rate is 11% flat as stated in fee schedule.
2. Term Deposit Account: Investment deposits with profit rates of up to 9% annually for IQD and competitive rates for USD. Customer share of profits is 75%.
3. Payment Gateway & Transaction Fees: Revenue from merchant payment processing through 500+ integrated payment gateways. Transaction fees include P2P transfers (0.1%), ATM withdrawals (0.004% same bank, higher for national switch), POS purchases, and international purchase transactions.
4. Card Services: Revenue from card issuance (Debit cards 120,000 IQD, Signature 198,000 IQD, Virtual 7,000 IQD), annual card management fees, ATM withdrawal commissions, and international transaction fees.
5. Business Account & Corporate Services: Sub-account terminals for businesses, POS terminal services, business transaction processing, and B2B payment gateway services for 25K+ active business customers.
6. Letters of Guarantee & Documentary Credits: Commissions for guarantees (1% quarterly for counter-bank guarantees, 330,000 IQD for goods clearance), documentary credits, and credit facilities processing.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels9 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

First Iraqi Bank (FIB) is a fully licensed digital bank offering mobile-first personal and business banking services in Iraq. Its core offerings include instant digital account opening, Visa-branded physical and virtual debit cards, QR code payments, P2P domestic transfers, term deposits, Islamic financing under Mudarabah principles, and a multi-platform merchant payment gateway with SDKs for iOS, Android, and major e-commerce platforms. The bank operates with 1M+ active users, 25K+ connected businesses, and 500+ integrated payment gateways, all delivered primarily through iOS and Android apps without routine branch requirements.

Product overview

First Iraqi Bank (FIB) operates as a fully licensed digital bank offering a comprehensive mobile-first banking platform for both personal and business customers in Iraq. The core product consists of Personal and Business/Corporate account types delivered through mobile applications with physical and virtual card options including ISIC student cards. The platform's key features include QR code payments, cashback rewards, domestic peer-to-peer transfers, and international transfers via Visa Direct. Savings products comprise Term Deposit accounts (up to 9% annual returns), Dream Accounts with prize drawings, and Group Saving pools (جمعية). For developers and merchants, FIB provides payment gateway integration via SDKs for iOS, Android, Web, and e-commerce platforms including WordPress and Magento. The bank also offers Islamic finance products structured under Mudharabah principles and corporate trade finance services including letters of guarantee and documentary credits. All services are authorized by the Central Bank of Iraq and comply with international AML/CFT standards.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ISIC Student Card: A globally recognized UNESCO-endorsed card providing student discounts and benefits across over 130 countries and 150,000+ merchant offers.
• Dream Account
• Group Saving (Jamaa)
• Term Account
• Visa Direct

Products and services

• Personal Account
• Business and Corporate Accounts
• Physical Debit Card

Quantifiable outcome

• Reached approximately 1.2 million customers as of December 2025, growing from 700K+ in 2022
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

AI capability8 records

Feature10 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• VisacoreTechnology or IntegrationFIB issues Visa-branded debit and credit cards (Debit, Platinum, Business Classic, Signature, Virtual) enabling domestic and international payment transactions. The partnership supports FIB's card services infrastructure including ATM withdrawals, POS purchases, and international transactions.
• ISIC (International Student Identity Card Association)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFIB is an official ISIC partner, providing a globally recognized and UNESCO-endorsed student identity card. This card gives students access to over 150,000 discounts and benefits in 130 countries, serving as a key student acquisition channel.
• Magento (Adobe Commerce)coreTechnology or IntegrationFIB provides an official Magento plugin (lawrencespring/module-paywithfib) for Magento Commerce merchants to integrate 'Pay with FIB' as a payment method. Distributed via Composer and GitHub.
• Developer Community (NodeJS, Python, Laravel, PHP)coreTechnology or IntegrationFIB provides official SDK packages for NodeJS (@first-iraqi-bank/sdk via NPM), Python (fib-python-payment-sdk via PyPI), Laravel (fib-laravel-payment-sdk via Composer), and PHP (fib-php-payment-sdk via Composer) enabling web-based merchant integration with FIB payment services.
• Central Bank of Iraq (CBI)flagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerFIB is licensed and regulated by the Central Bank of Iraq. The bank operates within the Iraqi Payment System including ACH (Automated Clearing House) and RTGS (Real Time Gross Settlement), and is subject to CBI's AML/CFT and compliance requirements.
• Kurdistan Regional GovernmentflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerFIB is authorized and accredited by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in addition to the federal government of Iraq, allowing it to operate across all of Iraq including the Kurdistan Region.
• Iraqi Federal GovernmentflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerFIB is officially authorized by the federal government of Iraq, providing regulatory legitimacy and trust signal for customers across the country.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Liv. by Emirates NBD: MENA digital bank targeting young, smartphone-first customers with QR payments, virtual cards and lifestyle rewards. Closely mirrors FIB's product-led growth, mobile-only onboarding and cashback/QR-led engagement strategy, but serves the UAE market.
• Iraqi Islamic Bank: Iraqi Islamic bank operating in the same domestic market as FIB, providing Sharia-compliant deposit, financing and trade-finance products. Closely comparable in target customer (Iraqi individuals and businesses) and core product mix (Islamic deposit accounts and Mudarabah-style financing).
• Mashreq NEO: UAE-based digital-first bank built on a mobile platform with API/SDK-based merchant integrations and fee-led revenue model. Directly comparable to FIB as a regional digital bank challenging traditional incumbents, though operating in a more mature regulatory and competitive environment.

Broad incumbents

• Kuwait Finance House: Major regional Islamic bank operating across the GCC, offering Islamic deposit, financing, trade finance and increasingly digital banking products. Relevant as a comparable Sharia-structured full-service bank with regional ambitions, similar to FIB's MENA vision.
• Dubai Islamic Bank: Largest Islamic bank in the UAE offering Sharia-compliant retail deposits, Islamic financing, cards and trade finance across the GCC. Comparable as a regional Islamic banking incumbent whose digital and Sharia playbook FIB is applying at a smaller scale in Iraq.
• Al Rajhi Bank: Saudi Arabia's largest Islamic bank with extensive digital banking infrastructure, retail deposit franchise and merchant acquiring network. Comparable to FIB as a Sharia-compliant, scale digital bank, though operating from a far more mature and capitalized base.
• Al-Rafidain Bank: One of Iraq's largest state-owned commercial banks offering retail deposits, corporate banking and trade finance to the same Iraqi customer base. Relevant as the dominant incumbent that FIB is disrupting with a digital-first, Sharia-compliant proposition.
• Trade Bank of Iraq: Iraqi state-linked commercial bank with a dominant position in trade finance, documentary credits and letters of guarantee — the same corporate banking product lines FIB is expanding into. Comparable as a deposit-taking, full-service Iraqi bank, though distributed primarily through traditional branches.
• Bank of Baghdad: Iraqi private commercial bank offering retail accounts, cards, corporate banking and trade finance. Comparable as a deposit-taking Iraqi bank competing for the same SMB and corporate customers FIB targets through its business and corporate apps.

Regional players

• ADCB Hayyak: Digital account opening and onboarding product from Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank targeted at underbanked UAE residents. Comparable as a digital-first acquisition channel for retail customers in a Gulf market with a large unbanked population, similar to FIB's positioning in Iraq.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/firstiraqibank
• Facebookfacebook.com/FirstIraqiBank

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about First Iraqi Bank