Cairo Amman Bank

On getting a Jordanian Bank Account:
Necessary documents and information: Passport, copy of apartment lease agreement, letter from agency documenting responsibility for getting you a residency permit. Two contacts/character witnesses, their occupation and official titles, addresses, phone numbers, and company names. Your name and mother’s name (Sara, works just fine) and marital status (don’t say “married” unless your husband is there with you, don’t say “single” if you’re dealing with a male banker)

Time commitment: one and a half to two weeks. Minimum four bank visits. Minimum one hour per visit. Bank hours are Sun- Thurs 8:30 am – 3 pm. Do not show up after 2 if you want to get anything done.

Visit 1 Objective: Understand culture of bank as workplace. Fill out paperwork.
Walk into bank and take a number. Sit and watch bank tellers. Notice how slowly, customers are called up to the teller counter, but no numbers are being called for account services. Notice how the screens that are supposed to display numbers over business desks, are actually mostly turned off and how must staff at a desk are either chatting or doing their nails. Ask banker politely if you are doing to the right thing. Do you have a number? Yes. Wait a little longer, then finally, banker switches on number sign to call a few numbers before you, then finally, your number. Double check to make sure you have all the correct paperwork! Visit 1 is actually three visits without all of the proper documentation noted above. At the end of visit one, you will have- nothing. Actually, if you have a good banker you will have some syrupy grape juice. Eventually, you will need to make a 100 JD minimum deposit but your account must be approved first which will take maybe two to three days. If your banker is nice, she will call you when your account is ready. She will also want to learn English, friend you on facebook, and invite you out for coffee. No need to give her your number, she has it from your account application.

Visit 2 Objective: Obtain bank account number and high scores for all the games on your cell phone.
Walk into bank and take a number. Sit and watch bank tellers. Notice how still, there are no numbers being called. Say hi to staff you saw before. See your banker. She will be with you in just a minute. Banker no longer bothers to turn on number. She invites you to her desk. After shuffling through a lot of paperwork, she produces several pages that need your signature. She then writes a long number on a piece of scratch paper. Ta dah! Your Bank account number. You want to make a deposit? As it turns out, 100 JD is not necessary, any amount (or none) is fine. Your ATM card? No you will have to come back tomorrow.

Visit 3 Objective: Obtain ATM card
Walk into bank and debate taking number. Just in case, take meaningless piece of paper that has a number. See your banker! She is so sorry she didn’t call you over the weekend, she was very busy. After waiting the usual twenty minutes, she invites you to her desk and digs out a folder with your ATM card. You will not be able to use the card, however, until you get your pin number which is not ready yet. Do not ponder what good an ATM card is without a pin number. The bank is full of things that will never make sense to you. Best not to mull over them.

Visit 4 Objective: Obtain PIN number

You have learned by now that the number system does not matter in any way shape or form but it is ingrained into the cultural mechanisms that control your muscle movements. You try not to, you walk toward the waiting area, away from the machine that gives you meaningless pieces of paper, but your fingers twitch and just in case.. you go back to get a number. Your banker sees you and welcomes you back. A different banker handles the pin numbers though, so you are instructed to wait at his desk. Banker will come with long pieces of paper. He hand copies each account number onto corresponding sheet with pin numbers one by one. You notice he writes acct. no 182 twice and wonder if you will actually get the pin number for your account. You are relieved when he also catches this mistake. Finally, you are given a small envelope that is promised to have a four digit pin code inside. It will not work, however, until after four ‘o clock.


I went back to the bank today to get a manager’s check for my rent. It is almost like another home now, all my old friends. I didn’t even take a number this time and I got in and out with what I needed in a record hour and ten minutes!! Now, there were certainly times when this banking business was frustrating. Thinking about how easy it would be to open a bank account in the states, how I would probably get free checks and I-Tunes credit or something, how my sister got an umbrella from her German bank. But that is just not how things work here, and while sometimes this is tough for an outsider, it can also be refreshing. Nope, I can’t do anything else today, I have to go to the bank. I did get really good at snake on my cell phone, read some good books, and most importantly, gained insight into a place where work isn’t the main goal of life. Where lunch breaks are longer and the working day is shorter, because things like family, friends, and yes, traffic, take up more time. It took me weeks to get a bank account, but just a few minutes with Sanna, my banker to get a new Jordanian friend. So, ma’aleysh. It’s ok.