JoPACC announces the DFS Champions Program

JoPACC is excited to announce the launch of its Digital Financial Services Champions Program. The program aims to recognize change makers -champions- who contribute to the expansion and acceptance of digital financial services. The targeted champions can be community members or employed workers who are proactively taking initiative to assist digital financial services users, spread awareness, or implement innovative ideas to increase the acceptance of digital financial services and ultimately increase financial inclusion in the kingdom. By recognizing those champions, their exposure to wider audiences and networks will be expanded allowing them to maximize their outreach and collaborate with different market players to implement and expand their ideas.

The selection of champions is conducted through a nomination process by all sector players and stakeholders, followed by an evaluation process by JoPACC of all nominations against clear criteria leading to the selection and announcement of winning champions.  There are three categories of champions: sector champions, community champions and early-bird champions. Sector champions are individuals who work in the digital financial, payment, and/or financial inclusion space. Community champions are individuals from local communities who have shown noteworthy interest in digital financial services and have contributed to its uptake within their local community. Early bird champions are individuals or institutions who are among the first to adopt a digital financial service and use it consistently. Such early birds assist in increasing word of mouth and promote the success of such services.

The program will run in June for the first year and its frequency will be re-assessed afterwards consequently.  The call for nomination for the first round of the program will be sent out in April and the first batch of champions will be announced in June 2021. JoPACC will accept nominations to its DFS Champions Program from institutions and stakeholders in the financial ecosystem. Nominations will open up two months before the announcement of the champions and will close a month prior to the announcement of the champions. A nomination form will be shared along with the call for nomination.

JoPACC believes it is of substantial value for increasing financial inclusion to shed light on existing efforts to increase the adoption of financial services, and as a result to establish synergies between existing players and conducted efforts. JoPACC counts on its partners and on sector players to jointly realize this objective and expand the visibility and outreach of change-makers in the digital finance space.