Ooredoo’s debut in Iraq is the latest addition to the countries where the operator offers financial services.

In Iraq, the services are being offered by a provider called AsiaHawala to Asiacell subscribers. Asiacell is an Ooredoo subsidiary.

AsiaHawala is the first mobile money service to launch in Iraq and is licensed by the country’s central bank. It is available at 1,600 locations across the country and has a range of features including money transfer, bill payments and airtime top-up. The service made its debut in December.

Ooredoo has previously launched mobile financial services in three countries – Qatar, Indonesia and Tunisia – out of its total footprint of 12 countries. The operator says it delivers mobile money services to nearly five million customers in those three countries.

AsiaHawala was established in 2014 by Zring Faruk, an Iraqi Kurdish telecoms professional, as a financial services firm. Among the services it offers are e-wallets, bill payments, salary disbursements and money transfer.