CIH Bank

CIH Bank is a Moroccan banking institution headquartered in Casablanca. Its historical identity was built around property and hospitality finance, but its contemporary business is broader: the bank serves individuals and companies with a range of retail, commercial, transactional, lending, savings, payment, and digital-banking services. The name CIH derives from Crédit Immobilier et Hôtelier, reflecting the institution's original focus on real-estate and hotel finance. The bank was established in 1920 as the Caisse de prêts immobiliers du Maroc (CPIM). Its early purpose was to support property finance in Morocco. In 1967, after expanding into hotel-sector lending, it adopted the name Crédit Immobilier et Hôtelier. The limited capitalization available to Morocco's hotel industry made CIH an important source of funding for hospitality projects. In some cases, borrowers that could not repay their loans transferred hotels or related assets to the bank, leaving CIH with exposure to direct ownership and management of hospitality properties as well as to lending risk. CIH later experienced a severe governance and asset-quality crisis. The controversy that became known as the CIH scandal emerged publicly in the late 1990s, when the institution was described as being close to collapse and as having accumulated a very large stock of non-performing loans. Reference material associated with the bank describes allegations that it had been used as a slush fund and places the problematic loan portfolio at approximately half of total lending, or around 10 billion Moroccan dirhams. The affair generated a protracted legal case. Former senior figures, including president Moulay Zine Zahidi and predecessor Othman Slimani, were connected to the proceedings, although the legal outcomes were not identical for all individuals. Zahidi left Morocco and sought refuge in Spain; Slimani was imprisoned and later exonerated according to the cited account. The bank's subsequent recovery involved both reputational repair and a change in business model. Under Ahmed Rahhou, president from 2009 to 2019, CIH divested seven hospitality assets and reduced its historical dependence on hotel-sector exposure. At the same time, it pursued a strategic transformation into a universal bank. This repositioning expanded the institution's relevance to ordinary consumers and businesses and helped it present itself as a more dynamic participant in Morocco's banking market rather than as a narrowly specialized property-and-hotel lender. Digital banking became an important part of the modern brand. In 2022, CIH Bank and Mastercard introduced CIH PAY, a mobile payment service intended to let customers use their phones for payments and related transactions. The initiative illustrates the bank's movement toward app-based and mobile financial services while retaining its established lending and deposit franchises. CIH Bank is controlled by CDG, Morocco's public financial institution, with CDG reported to hold 67.55% of the bank's capital, principally through Massira Capital Management. The bank therefore combines a commercial banking role with an ownership structure linked to a major Moroccan public investment and savings institution. Its present positioning is that of a domestic universal bank with roots in housing and hospitality finance, a broad Moroccan customer base, and an emphasis on digital service development.

CIH Bank traces its origins to 1920, when it was created as the Caisse de prêts immobiliers du Maroc, or CPIM. The institution was established to support property finance in Morocco, giving it a specialized role distinct from a general commercial bank. Its early activities connected the bank closely to housing, construction, and real-estate development. The institution expanded into hospitality finance in 1967 and adopted the name Crédit Immobilier et Hôtelier. Morocco's hotel industry had limited access to capital, so CIH became a significant lender to hotel developers and operators. This role also created a distinctive balance-sheet risk: when hotel borrowers could not service their loans, assets could be transferred to the bank. CIH consequently became exposed not only to hotel lending but also, in some cases, to ownership of hospitality properties. That specialization was followed by a major crisis. The CIH scandal, which became prominent in the late 1990s, involved allegations that the bank had been used for improper or politically connected lending and had accumulated a very large volume of bad loans. The available account describes CIH as being near collapse and states that almost half of its loan portfolio, estimated at about 10 billion Moroccan dirhams, was non-performing. The controversy produced a legal process lasting nearly two decades. Former presidents Moulay Zine Zahidi and Othman Slimani were among the senior figures associated with the affair. Zahidi left Morocco and later sought refuge in Spain, while Slimani was imprisoned before subsequently being exonerated according to the cited reference. After the crisis, CIH needed to address both its financial exposure and its public reputation. The bank gradually moved away from its historical concentration in hospitality. During Ahmed Rahhou's presidency from 2009 to 2019, CIH divested seven hotel assets and pursued a wider transformation into a universal banking institution. This strategy broadened its customer proposition beyond property and hotel finance to include retail customers, companies, payments, deposits, lending, and other standard banking services. The transformation also gave greater weight to technology and digital distribution. In 2022, CIH partnered with Mastercard to launch CIH PAY, a mobile payment product intended to enable customers to make payments and conduct transactions with their phones. The service formed part of the bank's effort to modernize its customer interface and compete in a financial market increasingly shaped by mobile banking and electronic payments. Ownership remains an important part of CIH's institutional context. The bank is controlled by Morocco's Caisse de Dépôt et de Gestion, principally through Massira Capital Management. CDG is reported to hold 67.55% of CIH's capital. Thus, the modern bank combines a commercially oriented universal-banking model with a controlling shareholder linked to Morocco's public financial sector. Its historical identity remains visible in the CIH name, but its operating profile has expanded well beyond the real-estate and hospitality specialization that defined its first decades.

• 2022

  Launch of CIH PAY

  [1]CIH Banken.wikipedia.org

  CIH Bank and Mastercard introduced a mobile payment service allowing customers to use phones for payments and transactions.

• 2009

  Universal-banking turnaround begins

  [1]CIH Banken.wikipedia.org

  Ahmed Rahhou's tenure marked a strategic effort to divest hospitality assets and reposition CIH as a universal bank.

• 1990

  CIH scandal emerges

  [1]CIH Banken.wikipedia.org

  A major governance and non-performing-loan controversy became public in the late 1990s and led to a lengthy legal case.

• 1967

  Expansion into hospitality finance

  [1]CIH Banken.wikipedia.org

  After entering hotel-sector finance, the bank adopted the Crédit Immobilier et Hôtelier name that later produced the CIH identity.

• 1920

  Creation as CPIM

  [1]CIH Banken.wikipedia.org

  The institution was established in Morocco as the Caisse de prêts immobiliers du Maroc, with a mandate centered on real-estate finance.

A Moroccan universal bank combining a long-standing heritage in real-estate and hospitality finance with retail, business, and digital banking services.

• Consumer banking

  Retail banking

  CIH Bank's universal-banking model includes services for individual customers, including transactional accounts, deposits, payments, cards, and lending. The retail proposition represents the bank's move beyond its historic role as a property and hospitality specialist.

• Lending · 1920

  Real-estate finance

  Property finance is the institution's original business area. The bank was created to support real-estate lending and retains that heritage even after broadening into general banking. Historically, its exposure included housing and other property-related projects.

• Sector finance · 1967

  Hospitality finance

  CIH entered hotel finance in 1967 and became an important source of capital for Morocco's undercapitalized hospitality sector. The bank later reduced this exposure and divested seven hospitality assets during its strategic transformation.

• Digital payments · 2022

  CIH PAY

  CIH PAY is a mobile payment service launched with Mastercard in 2022. It is designed to let customers use their phones for payments and related transactions, supporting CIH Bank's broader shift toward digital financial services.

• 1990

  CIH scandal

  The late-1990s CIH scandal concerned allegations of improper lending and use of the bank as a slush fund. The bank was reportedly close to collapse, with approximately half of its loan portfolio—around 10 billion Moroccan dirhams—described as non-performing. The legal proceedings lasted nearly two decades and involved former senior executives, with differing outcomes among those implicated.

  Source

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• 2022

  Launch of CIH PAY with MastercardProduct launch

  Background

  Mobile payments and digital banking were becoming increasingly important to the customer experience and competitive position of banks.

  Action taken

  CIH Bank partnered with Mastercard to introduce CIH PAY, enabling phone-based payments and transactions.

  Aftermath

  The launch strengthened the bank's digital-services positioning, although the available reference does not provide adoption or financial results.

  Source

• 2009

  Shift from sector specialist to universal bankStrategy

  Background

  Following the bank's governance and asset-quality problems, CIH needed to reduce its historical concentration in hospitality and rebuild its commercial and reputational position.

  Action taken

  Under Ahmed Rahhou, CIH divested seven hospitality assets and pursued a broader universal-banking strategy serving individuals and businesses.

  Aftermath

  The repositioning helped CIH develop a wider banking franchise and become a more dynamic participant in Morocco's banking sector.

  Source

1. 1CIH Banken.wikipedia.org