The central banks of Iraq, Jordan, and Egypt has leveraged Buna, a cross-border payment system operated by Arab Regional Payments Clearing and Settlement Organization (ARPCSO) owned by the Arab Monetary Fund, to make pension payouts easier.

The initial phase will enable Iraqi pensioners residing in Jordan and Egypt to receive their monthly salaries faster and more efficiently.

Iraqi pensioners who wish to benefit from this service can open accounts in any of the banks that participated in the initiative and completed the onboarding in Buna.

The pension payments will take place at the end of each month in collaboration with the banks that are actively operating in the markets of Iraq, Jordan, and Egypt and have completed the activation of the Jordanian dinar and Egyptian pound on the Buna system.

With more banks joining Buna, the initiative will be further expanded in the future into other countries in coordination with Arab Central Banks.

This might also unlock new opportunities for improving the efficiency of cross-border payments used in various use cases such as scholarship payments and student allowances, patient healthcare payments, embassies payments and other government use cases.

H.E Dr. Abdulrahman Bin Abdullah Al Hamidy, Chairman of the Board of ARPCSO said,

“Financial inclusion is one of the strategic goals of Buna, and we are pleased to contribute in enhancing the experience of a large segment of Arab citizens, strengthening the Arab economic ties, and providing more efficient experiences for cross-border payments, thus enabling the Arab banking sector to better serve their customers in various areas of governmental, commercial and personal payments, in compliance with the highest international standards.”