Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Six years after the disruption and violence that followed the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003, banks in Iraq are only just starting to make a comeback.

But business is picking up.

The country's first bank branch to be run exclusively by women for women has opened in the Shiite holy city of Najaf.

The only men working for the branch are security guards, and they are stationed outside.

The bank is considering expanding the new model to other parts of Iraq.