USAID and the Association of Banks coordinate first seminar on business process outsourcing for banks in Jordan

Bringing together top Jordan bankers to discuss the latest trends in Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) with international and local experts in BPO in the banking sector.

Several Jordanian third-party vendors (TPVs) were also present at the ABJ headquarters for networking and distribution of informative materials about services that can presently be offered to Jordan's banks.

This topic of seminar is the first of its kind in Jordan, and was facilitated by John F. Ewald of BearingPoint, Inc. (formerly with JP Morgan Chase and Co.), and Nidal Qanadilo, Director of ICT Investments in the Ministry of Information and communication technology.

The seminar consisted of presentations and open discussions around the concept of outsourcing and the current state and future prospects of the BPO industry in Jordan.

The seminar covered crucial topics that are specific to the Financial Services Industry such as; the range of tasks currently widely outsourced by banks worldwide; innovations in bank outsourcing, managing the risks of bank outsourcing to TPVs, the legal and regulatory aspects of bank outsourcing, and controlling costs and obtaining maximum value from the BPO relationship.

The 50 workshop attendees were made up primarily of General Managers and Deputy General Managers, Chief Financial Officers, heads of Information Technology Departments, heads of Legal Departments, and other individuals actively involved in the decisions to outsource and the monitoring of TPVs' performance also specialized outsourcing companies such as Crystall Call Exstensya and others.

Prudently constructed Business Process Outsourcing contracts offer capable well-managed companies the opportunity to achieve significant economies and the ability to focus on the services and products that contribute the most to the growth of their institution. As part of assisting banks in becoming more familiar with the services of companies, such as the aforementioned, the workshop concluded with an exhibition which encouraged the banks to network with the service providers.

Increasing competition requires that all companies review their operations and allocate their resources to the most efficient, effective, and quality provider of the core service or good to enable corporate success. This provider may be an inside unit or an outsourcing. Such decisions are now so important that they may mean not just the opportunity for increase profits but for survival in our ever expanding global market. Regardless if the final decision is an outsourcing or not, the benchmark for a unit's ability and efficiency of use of resources should now be based on external market factors.