ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Approximately 176,000 civil servants in Erbil, accounting for nearly 99 percent of all public sector employees in the province, will receive their November salaries digitally starting Sunday, as part of the Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) MyAccount initiative.

The MyAccount team celebrated the milestone, emphasizing that their goal is to continue until over one million bankable citizens across the Kurdistan Region are paid digitally through the initiative.

“This milestone means financial freedom for citizens, access to the Central Bank of Iraq’s favorable dollar exchange rate, and a gateway to global commerce,” the team told The New Region on Sunday.

“It also marks a breakthrough for the country’s fintech sector, online businesses, and entrepreneurs eager for digital payment systems,” they added.

The MyAccount team confirmed to The New Region that they will soon complete the registration of all civil servants in Duhok province as well, with over 34,500 beneficiaries already registered, accounting for nearly 96 percent of all public sector employees.

In its endeavor to advance the Kurdistan Region towards a cashless economy, the KRG initiated the digitization of the payroll system for over one million public sector beneficiaries, through the MyAccount initiative which started in September 2023.

The initiative aims to modernize the method by which civil servants receive their salaries, enhancing financial stability and granting beneficiaries access to a diverse array of financial services, including savings accounts.

MyAccount has so far registered around 720,000 beneficiaries, with nearly 350,000 banking cards already distributed. Approximately 220,000 civil servants across the Kurdistan Region currently receive their salaries through more than 550 ATM machines that have been installed.

The Kurdistan Region has over 429,000 civil servants, 72 percent of which have been registered into MyAccount, and more than 253,000 security force members of which 79 percent have been registered.