The Central Bank of Jordan signs two grant agreements that aim to enhance financial inclusion under the Mobile Money for Resilience (MM4R) Initiative sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
On Monday 23rd July, 2020 the Central Bank of Jordan signed an agreement to fund the digitization of payments for the Military Consumer Establishment. Representing CBJ; H.E. Dr. Maher “Sheikh Hasan” signed the agreement with Mr. Ali Abduljabar, the CEO of Middle East Payments with the presence of the guest of honor Deputy Chief of the Jordanian Armed Forces Brigadier General Marine Salman Nei’mat. This fund aims to digitize payments for all the beneficiaries of the Military Consumer Establishment and army personnel and retired (300-500 K) beneficiary using digital wallets, and will distribute smart POS machines, QR enabled, on all MCE branches in the Kingdom to support digital payments. MEPs will implement the project. Meanwhile, Brigadier General Marine Salman upraised this partnership and emphasized on the role of JAF in supporting any efforts that lead to digitization and development in Jordan.
Also, the Central Bank of Jordan signed another fund agreement with The World Food Program and MEPs to develop a digital platform to digitize payments of the WFP beneficiaries, Jordanians and refugees, and enable digital payments at the WFP merchant network through digital wallets for beneficiaries.
H.E. Dr. Maher “Sheikh Hasan” expressed that financing these projects is based on the mandate of the Central Bank of Jordan in supporting economic growth and enhancing financial inclusion in the Kingdom including digital financial inclusion and digitization of payments through the Mobile Money for Resilience (MM4R) Initiative. The MM4R is a fund sponsored by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and was launched by the Central Bank of Jordan in 2018 in order to enable the private sector to digitize cash transfer programs and develop digital financial services to serve Jordanians and refugees in Jordan.
Ms. Sarah Gordon, the World Food Program Representative in Jordan expressed her gratitude for this partnership in order to provide access to digital financial services to low income Jordanians and refugees, and to provide them with the right tools to enhance their quality of living.
Furthermore, representatives from other projects that received funds previously from the Mobile Money for Resilience (MM4R) Initiative presented their projects and progress in creating use cases for digital payments. Dr. Yazan Abdo, CEO of Sharek Educational Consulting Company, presented (Souq JO) which is an e-commerce platform that provides an interactive environment for small merchants, craftsmen, housewives, and home owned businesses to market and sell their products electronically, in addition to build their capacity in using digital payment solutions.
Mr. Bisher Sammak, CEO of Armstrong Investments, presented (Tanda) application that provides ROSCA services digitally over digital wallets, which provides a digital saving platform.
Mr. Imad Iyoun, CEO of Dinarak, presented a brief on projects that are funded through the MM4R initiative like; digitizing Cash Transfer Programs provided by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) to beneficiaries mainly refugees; to digitize social payments provided by the National Aid Fund (NAF)and; to provide revolving loans for water saving technologies for farmers in Irbid, Ajloun, Jerash, and Azraq, a fund to support the agricultural sector through digital wallets with Mercy Corps.
In alignment with the global transformation towards a digital economy, and to support efforts in digitizing payments in Jordan, the Central Bank launched a challenge fund titled " COVID -19 Response Challenge Fund" to encourage accepting digital payments through the digital wallets. The fund provides incentives to PSPs, merchants, and users to shift from using cash to digital wallets for merchants. Six Payment Service Providers (Zain Cash, Orange Money, Dinarak, Aya, MEPs, Gadha) formed a consortium and submitted one application to benefit from the Fund. Mr. Raed Fariz, the Payments Service Providers’ representative presented the PSPs’ plans and activities to expand digital payments acceptance at merchants all over the Kingdom and incentivize them to accept digital payments through digital wallets via (QR Code) technology.
At the end of the conference, H.E. Dr. Maher “Sheikh Hasan” expressed his appreciation for all the efforts made that contributed to launching these projects, and upraised the role the private sector is playing to create opportunities that lead to enhance financial inclusion and economic empowerment of vulnerable Jordanians and refugees in the Kingdom.