KRG to end cash salary payments as banking transition to conclude by August

ERBIL — The Kurdistan Regional Government will fully shift public-sector salary payments to the banking system after Aug. 31, ending cash payroll distribution for employees and pensioners covered by the MyAccount program.

The MyAccount project said Aug. 31 is the final deadline for beneficiaries to collect their bank cards from the banks where they opened their accounts. After that date, salaries will no longer be paid in cash, and beneficiaries who have not received their cards were urged to visit their designated banks.

The latest official figures show 862,168 public-sector salary recipients have registered with MyAccount and collected their bank cards, or 96% of all beneficiaries.

Registration rates vary by governorate. Erbil has registered 379,204 beneficiaries, or 99% of eligible recipients, and Duhok 188,164, also 99%. Halabja has registered 15,886, or 93%, and Sulaymaniyah 278,913, or 92%.

The announcement marks the final step in the KRG’s rollout of MyAccount, a program launched in 2023 to replace cash salary payments with direct deposits into personal bank accounts.

In May, the KRG said nearly 800,000 public-sector beneficiaries were receiving their salaries through MyAccount. At the time, officials reported more than 900,000 registrations, more than 800,000 bank cards issued and over 600 ATMs installed across the Kurdistan Region. The government said the ATM network would keep expanding as more beneficiaries join.

The program lets beneficiaries access their salaries through bank branches, ATMs and electronic banking services instead of collecting cash through the government’s previous payroll system.