Digi#ances: giving the Jordanian population and Syrian refugees access to finance

AFC in consortium with Altai and ADG has been supporting for almost 2 years GIZ and the Central Bank of Jordan in fostering digital financial inclusion in the country. In the frame of GIZ’s “Digi#ances” project, an enabling environment shall be created to increase the access to finance for the Jordanian population and Syrian refugees.

Jordan is one of the countries in the region which has been receiving the major part of refugees who had to leave Syria due to the ongoing conflicts. In contradiction to the opinion of many, the majority of refugees lives outside refugee camps. The Zaatari refugee camp, one of the biggest on the globe, might be known by many people, but in reality much more refugees live in host communities in cities like Amman, Mafraq and Irbid.

As one of the various measures to achieve their active integration in the local economy, access to basic financial services can have an important leverage effect. The Central Bank of Jordan has established the Jordan Mobile Payment Platform “JoMoPay” to allow bank transfers, payment of invoice etc. via smartphone apps.

AFC’s role has been to elaborate adequate measures to increase the digital financial awareness and financial literacy among the above mentioned target groups.

One of the major challenges has been to motivate people who haven’t dealt before with any formal financial service providers, to see the benefit in using such innovative and new concepts. More importantly, building trust in the new products is decisive.

Hence, AFC followed a multi-level approach. In cooperation with a local NGO, we conducted end-user trainings and trained facilitators of community based organizations to conduct individual trainings for their members.

To reach a broader audience and increase nationwide awareness, three explanatory cartoons have been designed. These short videos explain the characteristics of the services, such as the concept of a mobile wallet and how to use it.

How does a mobile wallet work?
 

How do I open a mobile wallet?
 

What is a mobile wallet agent?
 

AFC is happy to have assisted GIZ and the Central Bank of Jordan, but especially the Jordanian population and Syrian refugees in improving their access to digital finance.

For further information, please contact Marcel Pape (marcel.pape [at] afci.de ).