Al-Sarhan: "CliQ" moves Jordan from the digitization of payment to the digitization of economic behavior

Al-Sarhan pointed to an important indicator that is perhaps more telling than the total value, which is the drop in the average transaction value from about JD 119 in August 2025 to nearly JD 101 in August 2026, coinciding with the massive surge in the number of operations. This suggests the expanding use of "CliQ" in smaller and more frequent transactions, reflecting the gradual transition of instant payment into a part of daily financial behavior.

He pointed out that the rise in transaction value to JD 2.43 billion does not mean the economy added new activity worth this value; part of these operations represents transactions that would have previously taken place in cash or via other payment means and have shifted to the digital channel. Therefore, a distinction must be made between the growth of economic activity and the growth of the digitization of economic activity, as the latter does not add the same value to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), but it can raise economic efficiency and lower the cost of conducting transactions.

Al-Sarhan emphasized that the deeper economic value of "CliQ" appears in reducing time and transaction costs, accelerating the transfer of funds, minimizing reliance on cash, and expanding financial inclusion. When a transaction that used to require travel, procedures, or time becomes possible within seconds, and these savings are then repeated millions of times, we are talking about genuine productivity gains distributed among individuals, enterprises, and the financial sector.

He added that the upcoming phase requires shifting from the question "What was the value of digital payments?" to "What is the economic return of digitization?", suggesting the development of indicators that measure the share of digital payments out of total transactions, the decline in cash usage, transaction costs, the spread of usage across governorates, and the number of small and micro enterprises that have come to receive and execute their payments digitally.

Al-Sarhan noted that small enterprises represent one of the greatest economic opportunities for the coming phase; an enterprise relying on cash may find it difficult to prove the volume of its financial inflows, whereas transitioning to digital payments grants it a clearer financial record that, within data protection regulations and banking frameworks, can help it build a financial history and improve its ability to access services, financing, and expansion. Here, "CliQ" transforms from a payment tool into a part of the infrastructure for small business growth.

He pointed out that Jordan can build upon this to transition from the concept of "financial inclusion" to "economic inclusion"; it is not enough to grant an individual or an enterprise a digital payment method, but rather the requirement is to use the digital infrastructure to facilitate the transition of more regularizable activities into the formal economy, thereby broadening the base of organized activity, increasing transparency, and raising the ability to measure economic movement.

In this context, Al-Sarhan indicated the possibility of studying the expansion of regulated access to digital payment means for residents, expatriate workers, and groups with lower banking usage, within the controls of identity verification and compliance with regulations governing labor, residency, and anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing. The goal is not to bypass any legal requirements, but rather to move the largest possible percentage of legal financial flows taking place within the kingdom from cash to secure, low-cost digital channels.

He explained that this issue has an additional dimension related to the shadow economy; heavy reliance on cash makes a portion of the movement of funds and economic activity more difficult to measure. Of course, the shadow economy cannot be measured from "CliQ" data alone, but expanding digital payments, alongside data on wages, establishments, employment, and sectoral activity, can provide decision-makers with a better picture of economic flows and help reduce the invisible space of the economy.

He added that encouraging the digital payment of wages, including expatriate labor wages where permitted by the legal framework, provides workers with a safer means to prove receipt of their wages and manage their money, while simultaneously reducing reliance on cash and increasing the transparency of flows. Digitization can proceed in parallel with the rectification of legal statuses, without payment methods becoming a substitute for compliance with labor and residency laws.

Al-Sarhan emphasized that this expansion must be accompanied by parallel investment in cybersecurity, user protection, fraud combat, digital financial awareness, and the continuity of payment systems, because trust is the true capital of the digital economy. As instant payments become a larger part of economic life, the cost of any breach, fraud, or disruption increases, and digital protection becomes part of financial stability itself.

Al-Sarhan anticipated the continued growth of "CliQ" usage during the coming period with the broadening user base and changing payment habits, stressing that success in the next phase should not be measured solely by the number of transactions and billions, but also by the rate of decline in cash dealings, the number of small enterprises that have entered the digital payment ecosystem, the extent of usage spread across governorates, the level of security, and the extent to which digitization contributes to expanding the formal economy.

Al-Sarhan concluded by affirming that the reach of "CliQ" to JD 2.43 billion in a single month should be a launching point for a new phase, stating: "The first phase was moving the dinar from cash to the screen, whereas the upcoming phase must be using this digital infrastructure to lower the cost of doing business, empower small enterprises, expand financial and economic inclusion, shrink the shadow economy's space, and improve economic efficiency."

Financial and economic expert Dr. Mohammad Al-Haddab Al-Sarhan affirmed that the value of transactions executed via the "CliQ" system reaching approximately JD 2.43 billion during August alone, through nearly 24 million transactions, reflects a transformation that goes beyond the success of an electronic payment method into a gradual shift in the financial behavior of individuals and enterprises, with an increasing portion of transactions moving from cash to digital channels.

Al-Sarhan explained that what is more important than the monthly figure is the speed of the transformation; in August 2025, the value of transactions amounted to about JD 1.88 billion through 15.77 million transactions, meaning an increase in value over the year by about 29%, compared to an increase of nearly 52% in the number of transactions. Additionally, the value of transactions from the beginning of 2026 until the end of August reached about JD 16.64 billion through more than 162 million transactions, figures that reflect the broadening base of usage and its repetition in daily transactions.

Al-Sarhan pointed to an important indicator that is perhaps more telling than the total value, which is the drop in the average transaction value from about JD 119 in August 2025 to nearly JD 101 in August 2026, coinciding with the massive surge in the number of operations. This suggests the expanding use of "CliQ" in smaller and more frequent transactions, reflecting the gradual transition of instant payment into a part of daily financial behavior.

He pointed out that the rise in transaction value to JD 2.43 billion does not mean the economy added new activity worth this value; part of these operations represents transactions that would have previously taken place in cash or via other payment means and have shifted to the digital channel. Therefore, a distinction must be made between the growth of economic activity and the growth of the digitization of economic activity, as the latter does not add the same value to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), but it can raise economic efficiency and lower the cost of conducting transactions.

Al-Sarhan emphasized that the deeper economic value of "CliQ" appears in reducing time and transaction costs, accelerating the transfer of funds, minimizing reliance on cash, and expanding financial inclusion. When a transaction that used to require travel, procedures, or time becomes possible within seconds, and these savings are then repeated millions of times, we are talking about genuine productivity gains distributed among individuals, enterprises, and the financial sector.

He added that the upcoming phase requires shifting from the question "What was the value of digital payments?" to "What is the economic return of digitization?", suggesting the development of indicators that measure the share of digital payments out of total transactions, the decline in cash usage, transaction costs, the spread of usage across governorates, and the number of small and micro enterprises that have come to receive and execute their payments digitally.

Al-Sarhan noted that small enterprises represent one of the greatest economic opportunities for the coming phase; an enterprise relying on cash may find it difficult to prove the volume of its financial inflows, whereas transitioning to digital payments grants it a clearer financial record that, within data protection regulations and banking frameworks, can help it build a financial history and improve its ability to access services, financing, and expansion. Here, "CliQ" transforms from a payment tool into a part of the infrastructure for small business growth.

He pointed out that Jordan can build on this to move from the concept of "financial inclusion" to "economic inclusion"; as it is not enough to grant an individual or an establishment a digital payment method, but rather what is required is to use the digital infrastructure to facilitate the transition of more rectifiable activities into the formal economy, thereby expanding the base of organized activity, increasing transparency, and raising the ability to measure economic movement.

In this context, Al-Sarhan indicated the possibility of studying the expansion of regulated access to digital payment methods for residents, expatriate labor, and groups least using banking services, within the controls of identity verification and compliance with the legislation governing labor, residency, anti-money laundering, and counter-terrorist financing. The goal is not to bypass any legal requirements, but rather to move the largest possible percentage of legal financial flows taking place within the Kingdom from cash to safe and low-cost digital channels.

He explained that this issue has an additional dimension related to the shadow economy; as heavy reliance on cash makes a part of the movement of money and economic activity more difficult to measure. Of course, the shadow economy cannot be measured from "CliQ" data alone, but expanding digital payments, alongside wage, establishment, employment, and sectoral activity data, can give the decision-maker a better picture of economic flows and help reduce the invisible space of the economy.

He added that encouraging the digital payment of wages, including the wages of expatriate labor where the legal framework permits, provides the worker with a safer way to prove receipt of his wage and manage his money, and at the same time reduces reliance on cash and raises the transparency of flows. Digitization can go hand in hand with correcting legal statuses, without the payment method becoming a substitute for compliance with labor and residency laws.

Al-Sarhan stressed that this expansion must be accompanied by parallel investment in cybersecurity, user protection, anti-fraud, digital financial awareness, and the continuity of payment systems, because trust is the real capital of the digital economy. The more instant payments become a larger part of economic life, the greater the cost of any breach, fraud, or disruption, and digital protection becomes a part of financial stability itself.

Al-Sarhan expected the growth of "CliQ" usage to continue during the coming period with the expansion of the user base and changing payment habits, stressing that success in the next phase should not be measured only by the number of transactions and billions, but also by the percentage decline in cash dealings, the number of small establishments that entered the digital payment system, the extent of usage spread in the governorates, the level of security, and the extent of digitization's contribution to expanding the formal economy.

Al-Sarhan concluded by emphasizing that "CliQ" reaching 2.43 billion dinars in a single month should be a starting point for a new phase, saying: "The first phase was moving the dinar from cash to the screen, while the coming phase must be using this digital infrastructure to reduce the cost of doing business, empower small establishments, expand financial and economic inclusion, reduce the space of the shadow economy, and improve economic efficiency."