The Central Bank of Jordan plans to allow Jordanian banks and telcos to launch mobile wallets as part of its Jordan Mobile Payment project in March, according to The Jordan Times.

Jordanians will be able to use mobile wallets for withdrawing money from ATMs, bill payments and person-to-person or person-to-merchant transfers, Maha Bahou, the executive manager of the CBJ's payment services department, told The Jordan Times.

Consumers will not need either a smartphone or bank account to use the mobile wallets, which will work with standard cellphones, and fund transfers will be possible from customers of one mobile operator to another, Bahou said. Jordanians and foreigners living in the Kingdom will be able to open mobile wallets at any of the country's mobile operators and their agents as well as at payment processors Middle East Payment Services and Emerging Markets Payments and at banks, she said.

Jordan has a 155-percent mobile phone penetration rate, while 75 percent of Jordanian adults do not have bank accounts, according to The Jordan Times.

Mobile operators or companies that issue mobile wallets will have to abide by the CBJ's mobile payment regulations, and deposit collateral at the CBJ that is equivalent to the value of the e-wallets they want to issue.

Future JCB plans include facilitating benefit payments to e-wallets, NFC payments, and international transfers, Bahou said.

Learn more about mobile/digital wallets.