The advancement of electronics and information technology in Iran has been rapid in recent years especially in the realm of virtual banking so that the e-banking trend, which started out in the form of simple digital payments, continues to gain ground, an official said.
The amount of banking transactions during the Iranian calendar year (ending March 20, 2014) was estimated at 10 billion rials ($370 million at official exchange rate). In comparison, this year’s transactions have witnessed 33 percent growth, as the same amount has been registered for only the first nine months of the current fiscal year (starting March 21, 2014), said the CEO of Iran Banking Institute, Mehdi Razavi, IRNA reported.
Speaking at the second conference of Banking/Academia Synergies for the Development of Virtual Banking on Wednesday, the official also clarified that during recent years, given the time and cost efficiency that e-banking entails, virtual banking has become more and more popular with clients: “in the course of the current fiscal year, average daily transactions have been estimated at 35.7 million.”
Initial electronic banking acts were first performed in Iran nearly 40 years ago. Ten years later, personal computers and automated systems were incorporated.
Later, a comprehensive plan for automated banking was ratified by the General Banking Council in 1994, thereon; electronic banking procedures were legally and formally adopted.
The infrastructures of e-banking were solidified in 2002 when a compilation of regulations for the national Interbank Information Transfer Network (Shetab) were introduced.
