دور القطاع المصرفي الأردني في التمكين الاقتصادي للمرأة: من منظور الشمول المالي

Abstract

Objectives: The study aimed to identify the role of the Central Bank and commercial banks in supporting women's economic empowerment, focusing on the case of Jordan. The study also aimed to identify the reality of the contribution of Islamic and traditional banks in supporting this empowerment, whether through attracting women to work for them, or through products and initiatives that are offered specifically to suit women's needs.

Methodology: To achieve the study objective, the descriptive analytical approach and case study approach were relied upon to understand the role of banks in Jordan in women’s economic empowerment; this was done by referring to sources related to the study topic: such as research, annual reports, and sustainability reports issued by banks, and reports issued by the Association of Banks in Jordan, in addition to analyzing the information and data collected based on the official websites of Jordanian banks and their annual reports.

Results: The study found that women’s benefit from financial services in commercial banks in Jordan was generally weak; this is evident from the low percentages of women in terms of both the number of depositors and their total value, and the number of those who obtained loans and credit cards and their total value. The study also found that the percentage of women’s employment in Islamic banks was lower than in conventional banks in Jordan, and that the percentage of women’s representation in senior leadership positions in both Islamic and conventional banks was low and below the required level.

Conclusion:. The study emphasizes the importance of empowering women economically, as it has benefits for women and the economy as a whole. The study also recommends that Jordanian Islamic and traditional banks should play the role expected of them in supporting this empowerment, given its expected positive effects on their performance and profitability.