As per FINCA Jordan’s Strategic plan for 2022 one of the key strategic initiatives was diversifying products and clients’ segments along with transformation into cashless and centralized business model.
Due to regional conflicts Jordan was a main host of the refugees from neighboring countries and many people were displaced from their country of origin. Over the years most of the refugees were living in camps and gradually majority of them started moving to the cities and started building their new life in the new country. Many of them started to open their business and settling in Jordan, where to pen businesses and running their businesses they were financing it through family, friends and informal lenders, meaning they didn’t have access to formal financial institutions.
Therefore, with diversification of the new products and segments we have launched lending product for this new “unique” and most excluded form financial services segment of the market which is refugees and foreign-born residents. This unique segment and product which we have launched called Foreign Born Residents (FBR) lending and it is going to support the financial inclusion for the Refugees and legally residing residents of Jordan.
Upon launching this new product and also to diversify our funding portfolio we received $1.5M USD funding from KIVA to support financing this Refugee segment and also Host Communities which were impacted by refugees’ influx into country.