Refah Bank

Refah Bank

Company type	Public company
Industry	Bank
Founded	1960
Headquarters	Tehran, Iran
Key people	Esmaeil Lalegani, CEO
Products	Retail banking Transaction accounts Insurance Stock Brokerage Investment bank Asset-based lending Consumer finance Trade International payments Foreign exchange
Net income	$392 Million (2023)
Total assets	$11.3 Billion (2023)
Number of employees	10774(full-time)
Parent	Social Security Organization
Website	www.refah-bank.ir

Bank Refah Kargaran, also known as Bank Refah (in Persian: بانک رفاه, Bank Refah), is one of Iran's major banks. Bank Refah, with its headquarters in Tehran, Iran, is a retail commercial bank owned and controlled by Social Security Organization of Iran. Bank Refah provides a range of products and services.

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.

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 Security 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 Security Organization.^[1] The bank currently owns a subsidiary in Belarus, known as Onerbank^[2]

On 6 September 2013, the European General Court in Luxembourg ruled to annul the European Union sanctions in place since 2010 against the bank on grounds of supporting the Iranian nuclear and missile programs, as the EU had failed to explain the reasons for the sanctions.^[3][4] > As of 2016, the EU asset freeze was still in effect.^[5]

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.^[6] 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.

In July 2007 the bank launched a new banking service named "Gold Coins Deposit Account".^[7] 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.^[8]

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.^[9]

As of^[update] March, 2023 ($1 USD is approximately 450,000 [Iranian Rial](Rls) ):^[10]

• Total assets = $11.3 Billion
• Capitalization = $1.4 Billion
• Total income = $412 Million
• Total loans = $2.7 Billion
• Total deposits (short and long term) = $2.6 Billion
• Number of branches = 1012
• Number of employees = 10774

• Dr.Esmaeel Lalegani, CEO
• Vahid Khanlari
• Nejat Amini
• Mostafa Sargolzaei
• Hamidreza Fathi Beiranvand

In June 2016 CEO of the bank's earnings news release (Ali Sidqi) by a news site about the rights and benefits administrators led to frequent controversy and debate.

Bank Refah established its first Data Processing department in early 1970s. 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).

After the Iranian Revolution in 1978, the agreement with ISSO (and EDS) was terminated. Bank Refah stopped using ISSO data center and reverted 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 purchased the first Personal Computer for the bank. 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.

• Banking and Insurance in Iran
• Central Bank of Iran
• Privatization in Iran
• Islamic banking

• Bank Refah Official website Archived 2012-05-02 at the Wayback Machine (in Persian)
• Goliath Knowledge on Demand Web site
• The Banker
• ArchNet Archived 2006-05-15 at the Wayback Machine
• Iranian Oral History Project, Harvard University
• Iran's Ministry of Welfare and Social Affairs Web site Archived 2007-01-03 at the Wayback Machine