Over 100 policymakers and regulators from around the globe are attending FinTech Policy Forum jointly organized by the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) and the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) on 2 April 2018 at Hotel Le Royal, Amman. With the emergence of FinTech as a powerful tool for financial inclusion, the Forum aims to highlight evolving regulatory and policymaking paradigms.

CBJ Governor H.E. Dr. Zaid Fariz and AFI Deputy Executive Director Norbert Mumba are welcoming participants during the opening session from 09:30 to 10:00, followed by the group photo. The Forum is continuing throughout the day covering topics such as regulating innovations, proliferation of digital credit and regulatory implications, leveraging FinTech to address the refugee crisis, blockchain technology for financial inclusion. The Forum will end with high level policy recommendations and Maya Declaration commitments on FinTech.

Media are cordially invited to cover the forum. Interviews and /or statements are available upon request.

Along with financial inclusion of women and forcibly displaced persons, FinTech is one of the three key thematic areas of focus in Jordan’s National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS), first in the Arab Region. FinTech advances financial inclusion of people living in remote areas, women MSMEs, the youth and more recently forcibly displaced persons. 

Principal member of AFI since 22 April 2016, Central Bank of Jordan has had the leading role in FinTech for financial inclusion. CBJ’s FinTech innovations include interoperable retail payment systems; digitizing payments such as cash transfers and bill payments; innovative identity solutions that help include vulnerable sections of the society such as rural poor, women and forcibly displaced persons.

CBJ made a total of 11 Maya Declaration targets, two of which are on consumer protection and national financial inclusion strategy, completed. The remaining nine primary thematic areas of Jordan’s commitments are financial literacy and financial education, overarching national goal, digital financial services, microcredit and microsavings, financial inclusion data.

The Maya Declaration, the first global and measurable set of commitments for unlocking the economic and social potential of the 2.5 billion poorest people through greater financial inclusion, has been endorsed by more than 80 institutions from developing and emerging countries – representing over 75 percent of the world’s unbanked population. A total of 47 Maya Declaration targets have been made in the Middle East and North Africa, with 32 in progress and 15 completed.

The Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) is the world leader on financial inclusion policy and regulation. AFI is member-owned network of over 100 financial inclusion policies making and regulatory institutions from 90 developing and emerging countries, covering up to 85 percent of the world’s unbanked. AFI develops and promotes evidence-based policy solutions that help improve the lives of an estimated two billion unbanked, almost half of the world’s adult population who do not have access to financial services.

The event is held as part of the Financial Inclusion Initiative for the Arab Region (FIARI), launched by the Arab Monetary Fund, the Deutsche für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ) and AFI, at the 2017 Global Policy Forum in Egypt.

For additional questions please contact:

Central Bank of Jordan

Ms. Maha Bahou

Exc. Manager, Payment Systems and Financial Inclusion

Maha.Bahou@cbj.gov.jo

Alliance for Financial Inclusion

Sulita Levaux

Working Groups Policy Analyst

Sulita.Levaux@afi-global.org

Monika Lajhner

Head of Communications

Monika.Lajhner@afi-global.org