Iraqi Bank opens ‘all-women branch’ in holy city

 

By Saadoun al-Jaberi

 

Azzaman, October 23, 2009

 

An Iraqi bank in the holy city of Najaf has opened a new branch where the cashiers, accountants, managers as well as customers are all women.

 

It is the first bank branch of its kind in Iraq – and probably the world.

 

“This an unprecedented entrepreneurial initiative where a bank is run, administered and operated only by women and where its customers must only be female,” Maira Aisa, the manager, said.

 

Aisa said she was pleased with the new experiment which “will give women the opportunity to evade long queues and elbowing at other banks.”

 

The branch belongs to Babel Bank, a private bank with offices mainly in southern and central Iraq.

 

The bank was recently set up with 50-billion Iraqi dinar capital (one dollar is worth more than 1,000 dinars).

 

“The personnel are all women. Women run this branch and offer all the services available at government banks,” she said.

 

“We give loans only to women and provide them with the opportunity to find jobs and set up businesses,” Aisa added.

 

She said the idea was suggested in letters the bank received “from numerous women in Najaf, particularly those engaged in investment projects and commercial businesses who asked for such an initiative.”

 

The branch offers up to 14% interest on long-term deposits which are reported to be slightly higher than those offered by other banks.

 

Babel Bank Chief Executive Officer Mazen Abdulrazzaq said the new branch “is a response to the social, traditional and religious contexts of the holy city of Najaf.”

 

He said the initiative was made when he found “Najaf women competing with men in setting up businesses and vying for tourist and commercial projects.”

 

Iqbal Ali, a client, said she was extremely pleased to see “an all-women bank.”

 

“It is a rare opportunity especially in a holy city like Najaf where adherence to tradition and religious norms is important,” she said. “The bank tells the world that Najaf women are engaged in commercial enterprises and are willing to compete with men while at the same time preserving the holy norms and ethics of Najaf.”