In a signing ceremony hosted by the Central Bank of Jordan, JoPACC represented by its Chairman, Dr. Adel Sharkas, Governor of the Central Bank of Jordan, and Advanced Company for Detection Systems (ACDS), represented by its General Manager, Mr. Shafiq Nassar, signed an agreement to develop “electronic know your customer (eKYC)” services in the Kingdom. The signing ceremony was attended by the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship, Mrs. Samira Al-Zoubi, and representatives from key relevant institutions. The agreement aims to kick off the development of a platform that allows financial customers to onboard digitally and remotely and prove their identities when opening bank accounts and mobile wallets, when signing up to financial services, or when updating their data with their banks, using advanced technological solutions. The solution further enables financial institutions to validate customer data by connecting to the government database and digitally obtaining information about their clients. The project improves financial services for customers, enhances the efficiency and security of the banking sector, lowers costs and risks of compliance, and reduces financing terrorism and money laundering attempts.
Within the same context, an agreement was signed a few weeks ago between JoPACC and the Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship (MoDEE) to provide the digital financial identity in Jordan as part of the eKYC project. The Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship is one of the main partners in this important national project and plays a critical role in its implementation by providing an electronic interconnection with information sources “Government Service Bus” through linking APIs and by using Blockchain technology to document customer approvals with the highest encryption requirements in line with legislation governing customer data protection and banking secrecy.
The digital financial identity and digital customer identification services will be launched during the second half of this year. The first phase of the project commenced at the end of 2021 following the signing of an agreement between JoPACC and MoDEE, after which banks took the initiative, within a short time frame, to connect through JoPACC with the government database to verify customer IDs. The second phase involves the development of a platform for registering for financial services digitally and remotely, which will benefit all both banks and non-bank financial institutions, such as mobile payment service providers, microfinance institutions, and insurance companies.
Dr. Adel Sharkas emphasized that the project embodies cooperation and partnership between the public and private sectors in enhancing Jordan’s digital infrastructure and interoperability between the financial and banking sectors on the one hand, and the relevant national institutions on the other hand, as well as deepening the sovereign role of state institutions in providing and developing platforms and the mechanisms that serve the sectors of the national economy and enable them to achieve the goals of sustainable development and improve Jordan’s position and ranking in technological development. He also applauded the Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship’s contribution in the project to improve digital financial services as an essential step to achieve a digital economy that is based on innovation and continuous progress. For her part, Ms. Maha Bahou, CEO of JoPACC, stated that this national project is the first of its kind, in which the efforts of the government, the Central Bank, banks, and various industries work together in a participatory manner to provide an advanced service that benefits the Jordanian economy.
Advanced Company for Detection Systems (ACDS) is a company specialized in cutting-edge technology solutions and works in alliance with the Spanish company Gradient. It was chosen after winning a bid that was launched in 2021. A committee comprised of JoPACC and other Jordanian institutions assessed the technical and financial proposals submitted for the bid. Similar solutions have been developed by the company in more than 160 countries. ACDS thanked JoPACC for the confidence granted to them to complete the project and expressed their delight to contribute to expanding financial services and facilitating the journey of the financial user in Jordan.