Financial Technology and Its Role in Iraqi Banking Industry (Analyzing Study for Selected Private Banks of Iraq)

Purpose: Recently, serious discussions are argued concerning the qualification of financial technological techniques in Iraqi banking industry in specific, due to the lack of requirements and lack of adopting certain technical infrastructures in addition to the lack of knowledge either for those employees or for clients. Iraqi baking industry still cannot improve their performance as qualified as expected. Design-Methodology-Approach: The current paper tries to investigate the role of adopting financial technology in banking activities through addressing a descriptive analytical method of relevant articles, essays, and studies with reference to novel financial techniques. Findings: It is obvious that adopting financial technology has a positive role in enhancing the banking performance and increasing the population of financial banking technology usages; especially for those who cannot reach their branches; and increasing the profitability of financial transactions due to decreasing the efforts and time of financial processes through traditional ways. Research Limitation-Implication: Accepting the idea of automatizing every financial transaction is still not clear enough to most of Iraqi banks’ clients, further some of clients doubt the abilities of these financial technologies to serve their needs. Practical Implication: Unfortunately, most of Iraqi private banks follow the traditional applications of financial transactions rather than using the novel technologies, due to the lack of awareness towards its importance. So, the current paper confined to analyze only two Iraqi private banks (Ashur International Bank & National Bank of Iraq). Social Implication: Increasing the awareness of the importance of financial technological usages and training employers as well as staffs to be familiar with new technologies related to automatizing financial transactions. In addition to, supporting clients to use these technologies through holding seminars, workshops and so on among adults i.e., in universities, schools and even public governorates to explain the importance role of adopting financial technologies in their routine financial transactions. Originality-Value: Globally banking industry developed rapidly, and Iraq is a part of this development in specific due to many obstacles that stand before especially those that related to financial inclusion, which leads to knowledge poverty of financial technologies especially in banking industry. So, this paper stands to be a guide path for others to analyze and explain the positive role of adopting financial technologies in a right way.