Iran ties one-million-toman digital wallet deposit for state employees to their own consent

Hamidreza Ahmadian, deputy for e-governance and smart government at Iran's Administrative and Recruitment Organization, said on Tuesday, September 15, 2026 (24 Shahrivar 1405) that depositing one million tomans into state employees' digital wallets will not happen without the employee's own consent, and no ceiling has been set on the amount, meaning an employee could ask to have their entire salary transferred to the wallet, or conversely, none of it.

According to Ahmadian, Iran's digital wallet, unlike bank cards that run on the Shaparak and Shetab payment networks, operates on telecom operators' basic USSD service and requires no internet connection. He said the main goal of the system is to boost the resilience of the country's payment network under emergency conditions, an issue that has been on the agenda since last year given wartime circumstances. Ahmadian added that the central bank is reviewing incentive measures to expand the program, and that the infrastructure has been made available at the central bank for the general public, not just government employees.