Bahrain based founders who are used to waiting in queues to open a business account can now do it from a laptop or phone in minutes. Bahrain Development Bank now lets SMEs open a tijara call account entirely online through its tijara digital platform, with an average setup time of about seven minutes and no branch visit needed, as highlighted in recent coverage. The account offers a competitive 3.5 percent profit rate, instant access to digital banking, and round the clock support, and more than 500 businesses have already gone through the process, according to tijara’s own call account information.

The tijara platform is positioned as the digital banking arm of Bahrain Development Bank, designed from the start around smaller businesses that want simple, paper light services and faster access to finance. According to the bank, tijara focuses on convenient online services, including express digital loans, to help SMEs and startups manage day to day transactions without extra friction, all through one central digital banking portal.

What does this new online account mean in practice. Any business with a valid commercial registration and CPR can visit the tijara website and complete the process entirely online, then start sending and receiving payments as soon as the account is active. For founders juggling licence renewals, suppliers, and payroll, removing a branch visit and manual paperwork is a very tangible time save.

The move also sits on top of a wider technology upgrade inside Bahrain Development Bank. stc Bahrain and BDB have just announced a strategic collaboration that brings managed cloud and cybersecurity services to the bank, strengthening the backbone behind tijara and other digital products in line with Bahrain’s cloud first direction. As BDB Chief Technology Officer Said Abdelhamid Abdelaty put it, “our technology strategy is centered on secure cloud adoption and resilient digital infrastructure that supports economic growth and empowers SMEs,” describing the stc Bahrain partnership as a way to ensure reliable and innovative services for clients through advanced cloud management and cybersecurity capabilities, according to recent reports.

At the ecosystem level, this kind of digital first SME banking fits neatly with Bahrain’s national focus on small and medium enterprises. In 2022 the SMEs Development Board noted that Bahrain’s Economic Recovery Plan for 2022 to 2026 includes 43 initiatives focused on SME development and related support, reinforcing the role of smaller firms as a main engine of private sector growth. Building on that agenda, Bahrain has now launched a new SME Fund, a national initiative valued at over BD 100 million and managed by Bahrain Development Bank in partnership with National Bank of Bahrain, Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait, and Al Salam Bank, with profit rate support from Tamkeen, as detailed in recent coverage of the fund’s launch at Gateway Gulf 2025.

Tamkeen’s 2025 annual plan aims to support around fifty thousand Bahrainis through employment and training programmes this year, reinforcing the talent side of the equation while banks such as BDB work on the finance side. For a founder, that translates into a more connected journey inside one ecosystem, from skills and wage support to opening a digital account on tijara and eventually applying for funding through programmes like the SME Fund.

For Bahrain based entrepreneurs the immediate step is simple. If you already have a commercial registration and CPR, you can open a tijara call account online in a few minutes, test the digital tools yourself, and decide how they fit into your cash flow and growth plans as you build the next Bahraini success story.