On July 1, government institutions will stop accepting cash payments!
On July 1, government institutions will stop accepting cash payments!
2025-06-28
All government institutions will begin suspending the receipt of cash for various transactions starting next Tuesday, July 1st. Payments will be entirely electronic, a process already being implemented in most departments. In early June, Prime Minister’s advisor, Saleh Salman, stated that “Iraq has made significant progress in adopting electronic payment systems, with financial inclusion rising from less than 10 percent in 2018-2019 to approximately 40 percent currently.” He noted that “the number of point-of-sale devices has reached 60,000 to 70,000, while the number of bank accounts has increased to 22-23 million.”
He explained that “starting in July 2025, all government payments will be made electronically, prohibiting cash payments through government institutions.” He noted that “the government has launched awareness campaigns to encourage the public to adopt electronic payment systems and move away from the traditional cash-based culture.”
The Iraqi population is approximately 46 million, of whom approximately 17 million are under the age of 15. This translates to approximately 29 million adults. Meanwhile, the number of electronic payment cards is approximately 23 million, although most of the cards may be duplicates, meaning they are owned by the same person.
However, overall, the financial inclusion rate is 40%, meaning that 60% of adults lack access to electronic payment services and do not have bank accounts or electronic payment cards. This means that less than 15 million people have this access out of the total adult population, while another 15 million lack this capability. This could lead to chaos in the electronic payment process if it is completely halted.
This procedure has opened a new door to profit, as some employees or workers near government institutions and departments have exploited this loophole to turn it into a profession, where they provide their own cards to pay fees electronically to citizens in exchange for money exceeding the amounts paid for the fees. In other words, fees are taken for the payment process, or government departments take advance fees as a fine from the citizen because he does not pay electronically, without asking him in advance if he has an electronic payment card. If the fee for a particular government service is 40,000 dinars, the citizen is told that the fee is 42,000 dinars, without the citizen knowing what the story is about the extra 2,000 dinars, only to discover later that it is an advance fine for not paying electronically, as the employee takes the 2,000 dinars for himself, and he pays the electronic transaction using his own card.
burathanews.com
