Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - The Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) issued the "Instructions of Financial Consumer Protection for Customers with Disabilities"; the provisions of which will apply to all banks and non-banking financial institutions subject to the CBJ’s supervision and oversight.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the CBJ said that enacting these instructions reflects the keenness of the CBJ to protect consumers of financial and banking services and to achieve equality among all segments of the society to access financial and banking services without any form of discrimination or derogation of the rights of any segment, in addition to strengthening the financial inclusion in the Kingdom and empowering all segments of society to access financial and banking services.

"These instructions add up to the CBJ's approach of financial consumer protection, which will have a tremendous impact on enabling persons with disabilities to manage their financial affairs independently, privately and without any restrictions." the statement said, adding that the instructions aim at getting rid of all physical and behavioral environmental barriers, overcoming obstacles that hamper persons with disabilities’ access to the financial and banking services, and ensuring convenient provision of these services to persons with disabilities.

The instructions are also intended to regulate the financial and banking relationship between the service provider and the customer with disabilities in all stages, in accordance with the general principles of financial consumer protection and international best practices in this field. It comply with the Law on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act No. (20) for the year 2017 issued by the Higher Council for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The instructions consider the needs of persons with disabilities that have been detected through following up the frequent complaints submitted to the Financial Consumer Protection Department at the CBJ. Further, several measures were introduced in these instructions to facilitate the access of disabled persons to financial and banking services including; applying accessibility standards to buildings, roads and facilities to suit the needs of persons with disabilities, providing specialized ATMs, enabling clients with visual disabilities to use financial and banking services without a witness as a condition by using stamps or e-fingerprint, and in general providing all financial and banking services and products required by customers with disabilities on an equal basis with others.