MyBank (Somalia): digital bank licensed in 2019

The short version

MyBank is a commercial bank in Mogadishu. It was established in 2018 and is licensed by the Central Bank of Somalia (Dawan Africa, 10 September 2026). It appears as My Bank on the Central Bank's register of licensed banks (Central Bank of Somalia, licensed banks).

The 2019 licence

MyBank was one of five banks the Central Bank cleared in 2019, which brought the number of commercial banks in south and central Somalia to ten. The others were Daryeel Bank, SomBank, Agro Africa Bank and Amana Bank (Goobjoog, 2019). The Central Bank then required a locally incorporated bank to have at least $5 million of starting capital and to keep at least that much (same source).

Systems and cards

• In March 2020 the Kuwaiti software firm Path Solutions announced that MyBank would use its iMAL Islamic core banking system (Payment Expert, 23 March 2020; Finextra).
• In November 2021 MyBank, Mastercard and Network International launched a Mastercard debit card. It works at shop terminals and cash machines and, for the first time for MyBank, for online shopping. Network International gives the bank its link to the Mastercard network (Mastercard newsroom, November 2021).

Links to mobile money

• In October 2024 Hormuud announced that its EVC Plus mobile money service could now move money to and from accounts at MyBank and Agro Bank, and that it planned to add more banks in 2025 (TechAfrica News, 21 October 2024; Developing Telecoms).
• After an agreement signed in October 2024, MyBank customers can check balances and pay bills through the Waafi app. Dawan Africa reported Waafi as having more than two million active users (Dawan Africa).

IskuFilan: gold-backed loans for women

On 10 September 2026 MyBank launched IskuFilan, a financing service that lets women use gold as security instead of the personal guarantors banks usually ask for. Deputy Prime Minister Salah Ahmed Jama launched the service (Dawan Africa, 10 September 2026). The bank's chief executive estimated that about 1 million Somali women hold gold. He said that at an average of 20 grams each this would be worth about $3 billion, more than the combined assets of Somalia's banks (same source). The chair of the Banadir Region Women Organization noted that gold has long been a store of savings for Somali women (same source).

For all banks, see Banks in Somalia and Somalia's main banks. For women's role in business, see Women in the economy.