Shetab (), officially the Interbank Information Transfer Network (), is an electronic banking clearance and automated payments system used in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

. The system was introduced in 2002 with the intention of creating a uniform backbone for the Iranian banking system to handle ATM,

EFTPOS Electronic funds transfer at point of sale, abbreviated as EFTPOS (), is a type of payment transaction in which electronic funds transfers (EFT) are processed at a point of sale (POS) system or payment terminal usually via payment methods such as ...

and other card-based transactions. Prior to its introduction, some Iranian banks were issuing cards that only worked on the issuing banks ATMs and POS machines. Since the introduction of Shetab, all banks must adhere to its standards and be able to connect to it. Furthermore, all issued credit or

debit cards A debit card, also known as a check card or bank card, is a payment card that can be used in place of cash to make purchases. The card usually consists of the bank's name, a card number, the cardholder's name, and an expiration date, on either ...

must be Shetab capable. As of the end of 2017, the Shetab system had 54,300 ATMs connected to it.

History

Shetab was introduced in 2002, and now all card issuing banks in Iran are required to connect to the system. In 2005, the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

obliged the

Central Bank of Iran The Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran (CBI; ; SWIFT Code: BMJIIRTH), also known as ''Bank Markazi'', was established under the Iranian Banking and Monetary Act in 1960. It serves as the banker to the Iranian government and has the e ...

and the Iranian banks, mostly state owned, to set up all the necessary infrastructures (regulatory, hardware, software) for fully launching e-money in Iran by March 2005. While this plan has not yet fully materialised, local debit/credit cards are now commonplace and have removed the main obstacle to the growth of e-commerce (in the national scale) as well as the full roll out of e-government initiatives. By 2010 it is expected that 12 million cards would be issued, all of which work with the Shetab system.Iran Daily - Economic Focus - 10/27/05
The Agricultural Bank ( Keshavarzi Bank) was the first Iranian bank to connect to the Shetab system. In 2007, before the imposition of new

sanctions against Iran There have been a number of international sanctions against Iran imposed by a number of countries, especially the United States, and international entities. Iran was the most sanctioned country in the world until it was surpassed by Russia, follo ...

, Tetra-Tech IT Company announced that using Visa and Mastercard is now possible for online sales and in Iranian e-card terminals at shopping malls, hotels, restaurants, and travel agencies for Iranians and foreign tourists. Iran's

electronic commerce E-commerce (electronic commerce) refers to Commerce, commercial activities including the electronic buying or selling Goods and services, products and services which are conducted on online platforms or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on tec ...

will reach 10,000 billion rials ($US1 billion) by March 2009.

Connectivity

* In March 2005 agreements were reached between the Iranian Central Bank and

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

's ATM network Benefit as well as the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

's UAES to connect their systems to the Shetab network. * In October 2005, Iran and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

linked their banking systems. * In July 2006 the Shetab system was linked with

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

's ATM network (NAPS). * In May 2008, the automated teller machine (ATM) network of Iran has been linked to those in

and

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

, enabling customers to have direct access to their accounts from Iran and the Arab countries. * In December 2016, plans are to link to Japan’s JCB and China’s

UnionPay UnionPay (), also known as China UnionPay () or by its abbreviation, CUP or UPI internationally, is a Chinese state-owned financial services corporation headquartered in Shanghai, China. It provides bank card services and a major card sch ...

over the short term; and to Visa and Mastercard over the long term. * In July 2024, the Shetab system was linked with Russia's

Mir ''Mir'' (, ; ) was a space station operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, first by the Soviet Union and later by the Russia, Russian Federation. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to ...

system.

Members

As of 2020, nearly all Iranian banks and some international banks in

and

are members of the Shetab System, as follows: * 1- Bank Sepah * 2- Bank Melli Iran * 3- Bank Keshavarzi Iran * 4- Bank Maskan * 5- Bank Saderat Iran * 6- Refah Bank * 7- Tejarat Bank * 8- Bank Mellat * 9-

Bank of Industry and Mine Bank of Industry and Mine (, ''Bānk-e San'at va Ma'dan'') is an Iranian government owned specialized bank located in Tehran, Iran. It endeavours to increase economic growth through the development of Industry of Iran, industry and mining in Iran, ...

* 10- Export Development Bank of Iran * 11- Karafarin Bank * 12- EN Bank * 13- Parsian Bank * 14- Saman Bank * 15- Bank Pasargad * 16- Sarmayeh Bank * 17- Post Bank of Iran * 18- Sina Bank * 19- Qarz Al-Hasaneh Mehr Iran Bank * 20- Tose'e-Ta'avon Bank * 21- Bank Shahr * 22- Bank Day * 23- Tourism Bank * 24- Iran Zamin Bank * 25- Ayandeh Bank * 26- Qarz Al-Hasaneh Resalat Bank * 27- Middle East Bank

Impact

As of 2006, Iran was still very much a cash based society. It is expected that a unified clearance system, such as Shetab, will provide significantly greater

efficiency Efficiency is the often measurable ability to avoid making mistakes or wasting materials, energy, efforts, money, and time while performing a task. In a more general sense, it is the ability to do things well, successfully, and without waste. ...

, reduce crime, reduce money printing costs, and improve tax collection among other benefits. It is also expected to improve the quality of life of citizens whom, once the system is fully operational, would no longer be required to spend significant amounts of time organizing things in person and would consequently be able to conduct activities immediately over the phone or over the

internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

. The impact of the system is already being felt as corporations establish

e-commerce E-commerce (electronic commerce) refers to commercial activities including the electronic buying or selling products and services which are conducted on online platforms or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile co ...

, supply chains,

online banking Online banking, also known as internet banking, virtual banking, web banking or home banking, is a system that enables customers of a bank or other financial institution to conduct a range of financial transactions through the financial institut ...

and retailing systems.Iran Daily

References

External links

Annual Reviews
- Reports by the