The 98th anniversary of Bank Melli Iran is far more than a historical milestone. It is an opportunity to reflect on the role of an institution that has been closely intertwined with the development of Iran’s financial system, the financing of economic activity, and the evolution of the country’s banking infrastructure.

Established in 1928, Bank Melli Iran emerged from a national aspiration for a modern financial institution capable of supporting economic sovereignty and reducing dependence on foreign financial structures. Its establishment represented an important stage in the institutional development of Iran’s banking system. Almost a century later, the bank continues to occupy a distinctive position within the Iranian economy.
The significance of its 98th anniversary becomes even greater when considered against the backdrop of the national priorities defined for the Persian year 1405. This year has been designated as the year of “Resistance Economy in the Shadow of National Unity and National Security.” For the banking sector, this message carries a clear economic implication: resilience must be translated into the ability to maintain the flow of finance, preserve confidence, support productive investment, strengthen domestic economic capacity, and ensure the continuity of essential financial services.
In this context, Bank Melli Iran can be regarded as one of the institutions with the capacity to translate the principles of economic resilience into practical financial action.
A resilient economy requires a resilient financial system. Banks are at the centre of this system because they transform savings into productive capital, facilitate payments, finance businesses, support households and provide liquidity to economic sectors. The quality and continuity of these functions become particularly important when an economy faces external financial restrictions, volatility in international markets and constraints on access to conventional financial channels.
For an institution such as Bank Melli Iran, economic resilience therefore cannot be reduced to maintaining business continuity. It requires the development of a more sophisticated financial architecture capable of supporting production, investment, trade, infrastructure and technological transformation under changing economic conditions.
This is where the historical identity of Bank Melli Iran becomes relevant to its future mission.
The bank was originally established around the idea of strengthening national financial capacity. Today, that objective can be interpreted through a much broader financial framework. Economic resilience requires efficient capital allocation, stronger risk management, digital banking infrastructure, data-driven credit assessment, innovative financing instruments and closer integration between banking and other components of the financial services industry. Bank Melli Iran has the institutional scale, nationwide presence and historical credibility to play a significant role in this transformation.
One of the most important responsibilities of a national banking institution in the current economic environment is to ensure that financing reaches productive activities with greater precision. The challenge is not simply the volume of lending. The more important question is whether financial resources are being allocated toward activities that generate sustainable economic value, employment, exports, infrastructure and technological capacity. This requires moving from a conventional credit-distribution mentality toward a more sophisticated model of financial intermediation. In such a model, the bank does not merely provide credit. It becomes an active partner in the economic life cycle of businesses. It can identify viable projects, structure financing, combine banking products with insurance and investment solutions, manage risks and create financial ecosystems around productive sectors. This transformation could give a new meaning to the concept of economic resilience within the banking industry.
Another important dimension is the relationship between banking and insurance. The development of bancassurance can strengthen financial resilience by combining credit, risk protection and financial services within an integrated customer proposition. Credit insurance, outstanding-debt life insurance, property insurance, trade credit protection and other risk-transfer mechanisms can improve the quality of financing and reduce the financial vulnerability of borrowers and banks. For a major institution such as Bank Melli Iran, the development of these integrated financial solutions can become an important component of its future business model.
Digital transformation is another critical area. The future competitiveness of banking will increasingly depend on the ability to provide financial services through intelligent, secure and data-driven platforms. Digital banking is no longer simply about transferring traditional branch services to mobile applications. It involves redesigning the architecture of customer relationships, credit assessment, payments, risk management and financial decision-making.
For Bank Melli Iran, digital transformation therefore represents an opportunity to connect its historical institutional capacity with the requirements of a new financial economy. A bank with almost a century of experience possesses an extraordinary institutional asset: accumulated knowledge of customers, businesses, economic cycles and financial behaviour. When this institutional knowledge is combined with modern data infrastructure, advanced analytics and responsible technology adoption, it can become a powerful source of competitive advantage. The same principle applies to financing national infrastructure. Infrastructure investment requires long-term capital, sophisticated risk allocation and stable financial structures. Energy, transportation, housing, water, telecommunications and industrial infrastructure cannot be financed effectively through short-term financial thinking. They require financial instruments designed around the economic life cycle of projects. Bank Melli Iran, given its historical scale and national reach, has the potential to become a stronger financial partner for infrastructure development by expanding project finance, structured finance, supply-chain finance and sector-specific financing models. This approach would also strengthen the connection between banking policy and the real economy.
Economic resilience is ultimately measured by the ability of an economy to continue producing, investing, trading and creating employment despite external pressures. Banks therefore have a strategic responsibility to preserve the circulation of capital within the productive economy. The 98th anniversary of Bank Melli Iran provides a particularly appropriate moment to reconsider this responsibility.
The history of Bank Melli Iran is inseparable from the history of modern banking in Iran. Its next chapter, however, should be written through innovation, financial discipline, technological capability and a stronger connection with national economic priorities. The future Bank Melli Iran can be a bank that finances production more intelligently, supports investment more effectively, manages risk more professionally, expands digital financial services, develops integrated banking and insurance solutions, and contributes to the financing of national infrastructure. Such a future would give practical meaning to the idea of a resistance economy. Economic resilience does not mean isolation from the world economy. It means possessing sufficient institutional, financial and productive capacity to withstand external shocks while continuing to grow. It means strengthening domestic capabilities, improving productivity, diversifying financial instruments and creating sustainable channels for investment and trade. For Bank Melli Iran, the 98th anniversary is therefore both a celebration of history and an invitation to the future. The institution that was created almost a century ago around the idea of national financial capability now has the opportunity to redefine that mission for a new era: from national banking to strategic financial infrastructure; from traditional credit provision to intelligent capital allocation; from individual financial products to integrated financial ecosystems; and from banking as an intermediary to banking as an engine of economic resilience.
At 98, Bank Melli Iran is not merely looking back at a long institutional history. It is standing at the threshold of another stage in its evolution. The most valuable legacy of nearly a century of banking is not the number of years that have passed. It is the institutional capacity accumulated throughout those years. The task ahead is to convert that capacity into new forms of value for the Iranian economy. That is perhaps the most meaningful way to celebrate the 98th anniversary of Bank Melli Iran: by linking its historic mission to the economic priorities of today and by preparing the institution for the financial requirements of tomorrow.

Dr. Vahid Nowbahar