JoPACC: Jordan Marks a Decade of Digital Financial Services Developments and Innovations

Introduction

The past decade has been a game-changer for Jordan's financial ecosystem, especially in terms of digital financial services and financial technology. In the first half of the decade, the country saw major developments in digital infrastructure, legislative environment, and payment system services. In the latter half of the decade, Jordan made strides in the field of innovative financial technology, introducing new and instant payment systems, as well as expanding the features of current financial services. Additionally, business incubators and accelerators specializing in financial technology started emerging in the market.

As evidenced by the latest figures, last year witnessed an incredible increase in the use of instant payment systems in the Kingdom. Particularly, more than 60 million transactions were processed via the instant payment systems in Jordan — CliQ, JoMoPay, and eFAWATEERcom — with over 5 million users of those systems in total. These figures show just how popular these payment systems have become.

Furthermore, Jordan is rapidly becoming a hub for digital financial technology, with more than 25 emerging companies in the field. The Kingdom has invested in several incubators and business accelerators, the most prominent of which is the Jordan Innovation Fintech Incubator (JOIN), launched recently by the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) and the Jordan Payments and Clearing Company (JoPACC), not to mention the business incubators launched by our partners in the financial sector, such as the Innovation Center (AB iHub) and the Business Accelerator (AB Accelerator) by the Arab Bank, as well as the AHLI FINTECH incubator and accelerator by Ahli Bank.

The Digitalization Journey in Jordan

Jordan, a country with limited economic resources, is making notable strides in the field of digital payments and financial technology. In 2002, the Central Bank of Jordan launched the Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS), a system designated to settle wholesale payments between banks. Prior to this, Jordan had relied on the global (SWIFT) system for such payments. This move marked the beginning of Jordan's financial digitalization journey. Later, in 2007, the Central Bank of Jordan launched the Electronic Cheque Clearing Unit (ECCU) to automate cheque-clearing operations between banks, allowing customers to receive their funds on the same day of cheque deposit or at most the next working day.

Looking at the past decade, Jordan has experienced a remarkable transformation in the digital ...

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