Mobile Financial Services (MFS) in Jordan have witnessed growth with the number of mobile wallets reaching 760,000 wallets in April 2020.
This represents around 10% of the total mobile subscription base, with a total transaction value of US$ 88.1 million up from US$ 26.7 million in Dec 2019.
It also represents a 230% increase in transaction value in April 2020 vs Dec 2019, and a 25% increase in the number of wallets over the same period.
There are several reasons behind the boost in the uptake and transaction values of mobile wallets. One of them is, the government’s decision to support the daily workers whose jobs were affected in this pandemic by a weekly fund.
The Government urged those workers to open mobile wallets to receive their funds, during the lockdown period and when the curfew was imposed as well. This initial phase of the workers’ fund started in April 2020 and will last till the end of June 2020. Other phases may follow suite.
Another driver is telcos provision of mobile wallets applications, to enable their customers to make transactions such as top-ups and payments remotely, given a number of telco stores closures. Jordan is a prepaid mobile market with circa 80% of the customers on prepaid plans. The top-up transaction is, thus, vital to keep people connected.
Telecom operators are important players in Jordan. Telco Orange is present in this space with the Orange Money wallet, Zain with the Zain Cash wallet, and Umniah provides the Mahfazti wallet. Financial institutions also play a key role in the ecosystem with solutions including Dinark, National Wallet, Gadhaa, and other banks.