In a ceremony hosted by the Arab Monetary Fund at its headquarters in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Ms. Maha Bahou, CEO of The Jordan Payments and Clearing Company (JoPACC), and Mr. Mehdi Manaa, CEO of Buna, the cross-border and multi-currency payment system owned by the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF), signed today a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enable interoperability between Buna’s IPS and CliQ.

Under the umbrella of this MoU, Buna and JoPACC aim to achieve interoperability between their instant payment services, Buna “IPS” and “CliQ”, by providing innovative solutions that allow their participants to send and receive cross-border payments instantly in accordance with the highest global standards. The integration between Buna and CliQ is envisioned to advance digital and instant payments in the Arab region and create another payment rail targeting to support various use cases, including digital remittances and e-commerce.

Commenting on this MoU, HE Dr. Abdulrahman A. Al Hamidy, Director General Chairman of the Board of the Arab Monetary Fund, said: “This strategic collaboration with The Jordan Payments and Clearing Company (JoPACC), is a step forward in Buna’s efforts to provide national payment solutions with expansion opportunities by enabling cross-border payment services to their participants. Buna’s partnership with JoPACC will bring additional services and features to the payments industry in Jordan, securing safe and efficient access to cross-border instant payments for individuals and corporates within the Arab region and beyond.”

Ms. Maha Bahou, the CEO of JoPACC, emphasized Jordan’s efforts in developing instant digital payment solutions and expanding the scope of offered financial services to include cross-border payments that are characterized by high levels of safety and efficiency and are based on cutting-edge technologies. This shall increase the uptake of financial services and thus contribute to the increase of financial inclusion in Jordan. Ms. Maha further applauded the efforts of AMF in collaborating with digital payment stakeholders in the Arab world to make the journey of the Arab financial consumer more seamless.

JoPACC launched its instant payment system CliQ in 2020, and 20 banks are currently participants in it, with 18 banks offering CliQ services to their clients. CliQ enables instant payments between bank accounts and to and from mobile wallets in Jordan. CliQ further offers a bundle of services and features that facilitate digital money flow while preserving the highest levels of efficiency and security.