International Standards

The governance of a payment system should incorporate international standards for the management of risks and the communication of payment data across the ecosystem. Subsequently, JoPACC has integrated prominent international standards into its own governance structure. For example, JoPACC has adopted the ISO 20022 messaging standard for its instant payment scheme, CliQ, and has upgraded the Jordan Mobile Payments Switch to this standard.

Importantly, given their potential to transmit shocks across the financial system, the management of risks for payment systems should form a foundational element of a payment system's governance. The Principles for Financial Market Infrastructure (PFMI), published in 2012 by the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructure, are the international standards for financial market infrastructures (e.g., payment systems) to strengthen and preserve financial stability. 

The PFMIs were designed for systemically important payment systems, which do not include any of JoPACC's systems. That being said, JoPACC has considered the PFMIs as integral guiding principles of its Risk Management culture, using it as a benchmark for its annual risk assessments. In doing so, JoPACC will apply the subset of the principles relevant to payment systems deemed applicable to its own payment systems. JoPACC further aims to improve the governance surrounding the financial market infrastructure in Jordan, decrease the overall risk on the national payment system, and improve Jordan's compliance with the PFMIs.