National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS) 2018 - 2020.

This National Financial Inclusion Strategy is a nationwide sectoral document aiming at promoting a financial inclusion environment wherein individuals and businesses have convenient access to and use affordable and suitable financial products and services that meet their needs, help to improve their lives, and are delivered responsibly and sustainably. The NFIS is expected to contribute to reducing socioeconomic inequalities in line with the Jordan 2025 Vision and Strategy and the Jordan Economic Growth Plan. The main target groups of the Strategy for reducing socioeconomic inequalities are (i) young people, (ii) women, (iii) non-Jordanians, including refugees, and (iv) low-income people. The Strategy has two high-level goals, namely (1) increase the level of financial inclusion from 33.1% to 41.5% in terms of account ownership by the adult population; (2) reduce the gender gap in finance from 53% to 35% which will help unleash the economic potential of women entrepreneurs and women-led enterprises that move forward social and economic developments. Other effects derive from the implementation of the Strategy are (i) the generation of more and better employment including for the low-income by finding new and more adequate funding sources and other financial services for the MSMEs; (ii) greater access to and usage of financial services by refugees to enhance their self-reliance and enable them to contribute to economic activity; (iii) reductions of geographic disparities in access to and usage of finance. The NFIS builds on a set of priority policy areas, three of which form the core industry pillars (1) Microfinance; (2) Digital Financial Services; and (3) Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) Finance. Four areas are considered cross-cutting enablers that facilitate the development of industries and make them more robust: (1) Financial Technology; (2) Financial Consumer Protection and Financial Capabilities; (3) Data and Research; and (4) Laws, Regulations, and Instructions.