Creating the conditions for money transfers without borders

Context

At present, it is difficult for Syrian refugees to open a bank account in Jordan. At the same time, only 42 per cent of Jordanian adults have a bank account. Therefore, most payments from abroad as well as inside Jordan are made in cash. Digital financial services can help minimise the risks and costs involved when money is transferred through operators or via informal channels.

Objective

Conditions for using digital services including cross-border remittances are created for refugees and Jordanian households.

Approach

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) are jointly implementing the Digi#ances project, which is part of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (BMZ) special initiative “Tackling the Root Causes of Displacement, Reintegrating Refugees”.

Digi#ances aims to increase the use of digital financial services, including cross-border remittances, by unbanked Jordanians and refugees with a particular focus on women. To accomplish this, the project works in three areas:

• Piloting needs-based mobile money services, including remittances, in collaboration with relevant actors from the private and nongovernmental sectors. 
• Enhancing the regulatory and supervisory framework for digital financial services in cooperation with the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ), including cross-border remittances via e-wallet.
• Conducting campaigns and training courses tailored to the target groups promoting the responsible use of digital financial services.

Apart from the above, the project signed a co-financing agreement with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) intending to improve financial inclusion and resilience of migrant workers in Jordan by piloting an outbound cross-border remittances corridor, mainly for Bangladeshi workers in the garment sector in Jordan.

Last update: October 2021