CBJ forms committee to improve financial inclusion

AMMAN — The Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) has formed a committee to design a national strategy for financial inclusion in the Kingdom, in cooperation with the private sector and banking institutions, CBJ Governor Ziad Fariz said on Monday.

The strategy will focus on people’s awareness of the financial environment and the protection of financial consumers, in addition to digital services and e-payment, which constitute a “main pillar” of efforts to reach an e-government and facilitate payments, Fariz highlighted in a CBJ statement.

In a session organised by the Jordan Strategy Forum (JSF) to discuss its recently published study, titled “Financial inclusion in Jordan”, the governor said that the CBJ implements “many measures” to develop small and medium size enterprises within the microfinance sector.

He stressed the importance of the study, at a time when Jordan suffers from low rates of financial inclusion, despite the banking sector’s advanced status, attributing it to high costs and lack of individual awareness about bank accounts.

Fariz noted that financial inclusion has risen to 31 per cent, thanks to policies that were implemented to increase the national percentage.

The governor went over the recommendations of the study aimed at increasing the rates of financial inclusion, such as facilitating procedures for individuals to open bank accounts, amending the age at which individuals are allowed to open bank accounts and expanding the geographical coverage of banks to reach remote areas.

JSF Chairman Abdelelah Alkhatib suggested calling on employers to transfer their employees’ salaries to bank accounts, urging the Finance Ministry to ask some public departments that still deliver their employees’ salaries in cash to transfer them to bank accounts.

JSF CEO Hala Zawati said that the forum conducted the study to stress the importance of financial inclusion and its impact on the national economy and sustainable development in the Kingdom, expressing hope that the recommendations will play a role in raising the public’s awareness of financial services.