Bank Refah

Infobox_Company
company_name = Bank Refah بانك رفاه
company_
company_type = Bank
foundation = Tehran, Iran, 1960
location =
industry = Bank
products = Financial services
homepage = [http://www.bankrefah.ir/en/ www.bankrefah.ir]

Bank Refah Kargaran, also known as Bank Refah بانك رفاه, is one of Iran's major state owned banks. Bank Refah, with its headquarters in Tehran, Iran, is a retail commercial bank owned and controlled by Iran's Ministry of Welfare and Social Affairs. Bank Refah provides a full range of products and services to more than a million clients. Its SWIFT address is REFAIRTH.

History

The workers' bank

Bank Refah was established in 1960 to provide basic banking services to the Iranian workers. Those services included collection of insurance premiums, payment of salaries and pensions, mortgages and personal loans. Bank Refah was categorized as a non-commercial bank until it was nationalized in 1979 less than a year after the Islamic Revolution. With the Nationalization law passed by the Islamic Majlis of Iran, the bank’s ownership was transferred to the government. It was also recategorized as a commercial bank.

Ownership

In accordance with article 39 of Iran's 1959 fiscal budget, Bank Refah’s initial capital was 400,000,000 Iranian Rials (just over US$5.7 million) fully funded by the Iranian Social Welfare Organization. Although the bank was nationalized in 1979, its management was returned to the Social Welfare Organization (now known as the Ministry of Welfare and Social Affairs) in 1993. In March 2001, the bank’s capital was raised to Rls 1,961 Billion (approximately US$250M) of which close to 94 percent was paid by the Iranian Social Welfare Organization [cite web|url=http://www.bankrefah.ir/fa/aboutus/generalinfo.asp|title=General information about the bank|publisher=Bank Refah] .

Islamic banking

All banks in Iran must follow the banking principles and practices described in the Islamic Banking law of Iran passed in 1983 by the Islamic Majlis of Iran [cite web|url=http://www.cbi.ir/simplelist/1457.aspx|title=Iran's interest-free banking law|publisher=Central Bank of Iran] . According to this law, banks can only engage in interest-free Islamic transactions (interest is considered as usury or riba and is forbidden by Islam and the holy book of Quran). These are commercial transactions that involve exchange of goods and services in return for a share of the assumed "profit". All such transactions are performed through Islamic contracts, such as "Mozarebe", "Foroush Aghsati", "Joale", "Salaf", and "Gharzol-hassane". Details of these contracts and related practices are outlined in the Iranian Interest-Free banking law and its guidelines.

In July 2007 the bank launched a new banking service named "Gold Coins Deposit Account" [ cite web|url=http://www.bankrefah.ir/pdfs/fa/gold.pdf|title=Bank Refah's Gold Deposit Account|publisher=Bank Refah] . Through this new service, Bank Refah's customers can deposit their gold coins into a special deposit account and in return receive points, which they can then redeem against future loans and credits. The launch of this unique deposit account, which received high publicity in the Iranian media, was marked by a presidential speech by the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad [cite web|url=http://www.bankrefah.ir/fa/phcoin.asp|title=Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks at Bank Refah's ceremony|publisher=Bank Refah] .

The bank's CEO Peyman Nouri announced in March 2007 that his bank has been authorized by the Central Bank of Iran to issue international credit cards [cite web|url=http://iran-daily.com/1385/2800/html/economy.htm|title=Bank Refah to Issue International Credit Cards|publisher=Iran Daily, March 8, 2007] .

Financial numbers

As of March 20, 2005 (1 Iranian Rial(Rls) was approximately US$9000) [cite web|url=http://www.bankrefah.ir/fa/statements/statements83.asp|title=Bank Refah's financial statements as of March 20, 2005|publisher=Bank Refah] :
*Total assets = Rls 41,453 billion
*Capitalization = Rls 895 billion
*Total income = Rls 1,614 billion
*Total loans = Rls 29,441 billion
*Total deposits (short and long term) = Rls 25,719 billion
*Number of branches = 1128
*Number of employees = 9570
*Market share = 6.8% of total deposits and 5% of total loans

Current CEO and directors

*Peyman Noori Borojerdi, CEO
*Ali Asghar Rashidi
*Heydar Mostakhdemin Hosseini
*Hadi Akhlaghi Feiz Asar
*Reza Memar Isfahani

Previous CEOs

*Mohammad Taghi Jamalian
*Parviz Ahmadi
*Jabbar Saber Khiabani
*Mohammad Hossein Kazemi Namin
*Abdollah Ebtehaj

ignificant buildings

*Mofatteh Building — 125 Mofatteh Ave, Tehran
*Pardis Building — 40 Shiraz Shomali, Tehran

Information Technology

Bank Refah established its first Data Processing department in early 1970's. The Data Processing department was equipped with a small IBM 370 Mainframe computer, which was mainly used for batch processing of deposit and mortgage accounts. The bank's IT department was later dissolved in 1976 and its staff were moved to the IT division of the Iranian Social Security Organization (ISSO). At the time Electronic Data Systems (EDS) was developing a social security application for ISSO and was also managing ISSO's data center [cite web|url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Data_Systems|title=Electronic Data Systems|publisher=Wikipedia] . After the Iranian Revolution in 1978, the agreement with ISSO (and EDS) was terminated. Bank Refah stopped using ISSO data center and reverted back to manual processing. All business units and bank branches were instructed to set up paper-based customer and account ledgers.

A few years later in 1988, then CEO of the bank, Mohammad Hossein Kazemi Namin, purchased the first Personal Computer for the bank. He then hired a group of IT professionals and re-established the data processing division. A year later, he made a significant investment and purchased an IBM 4381 Mainframe computer from the United Kingdom. Since then, the bank's IT division has purchased, developed and implemented several small and large computers and software packages. However, despite the efforts, its IT infrastructure and systems are well behind modern western and regional banks. Lack of skilled IT resources, unavailability of high speed data lines, insufficient investment, poor IT leadership and foreign sanctions have contributed to the slow progress of data processing in the Iranian banks and Bank Refah hasn't been an exception.

In the spring of 2007, Bank Refah opened its first unmanned branch in Tehran with two ATM's and four information kiosks. This bank branch is located at Galoobandak in the vicinity of Tehran's Grand Bazaar.

Bank Refah has installed over 500 Automated Teller Machines (ATM) across its branches in Tehran and other cities. The ATM network is connected to the Iranian Shetab network allowing customers to withdraw cash from any ATM in the country.

External links

* [http://www.bankrefah.ir Bank Refah Web site] (Persian)
* [http://www.bankrefah.ir/en/ Bank Refah Web site] (English)
* [http://www.cbi.ir Central Bank of Iran]
* [http://www.cbi.ir/simplelist/3088.aspx State owned banks of Iran]
* [http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/product-compint-0000755962-page.html Goliath Knowledge on Demand Web site]
* [http://www.thebanker.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/4436/The_start_of_an_economic_renaissance.html The Banker]
* [http://archnet.org/library/sites/one-site.tcl?site_id=1836 ArchNet]
* [http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~iohp/subjectindex.pdf Iranian Oral History Project, Harvard University]
* [http://www.irimlsa.ir/myVK01/main/index.aspx Iran's Ministry of Welfare and Social Affairs Web site]

ee also

*Bank Markazi Iran
*Economy of Iran
*Islamic Banking

References