Gov’t Study Gives Poor Marks to Banking Sector

A recent study conducted by the Ministry of Cooperative, Labor and Social Welfare shows the people largely have access to the general financial services, however, such services have done little in the way of improving the quality of life.
The findings were published in a report "Poverty in Accessing Financial Services" by the ministry's Office for Poverty Studies, according to which banks failed to provide substantial credit, microloans and credit cards despite “sufficient numbers of branches, ATMs and POS terminals.”
In the rare study, the ministry said, "In the absence of credit cards, unlike other countries, Iranian families are obliged to go through the cumbersome process of taking out loans to solve their financial problems.”
"Debt-to-income ratio of Iranian families was 13% in 2018, which exposed the inefficiency of banks," the study found, and added that a small minority (9%) have credit cards.