The Moroccan Monetary Centre (CMI) has issued a report showing that the number of online payments transactions has jumped by 36% over 2021. Figures from the Interbank Electronic Banking Centre (CMI) show a 36% increase in the number of online card payment transactions carried out by sites of billers and merchants affiliated to the CMI, comparing the first half of 2021 and the first half of 2022.

The total value of such transactions rose by 21. 3 % over the same period, to USD 440 million (MAD 4. 6 billion) in the first half of 2022.

Merchants and e-merchants affiliated to the CMI saw a 32. 4% increase in the number of overall payment transactions (by both Moroccan and foreign cards), and a 36. 7% increase in their total value, to USD 2.

6 billion (MAD 27. 8 billion). Large retailers continue to be the most popular sector of activity for card payments.

Mastercard’s New Payments Index 2022 shows that Moroccans, especially those from Gen Z, are increasingly exploring digital payment solutions such as BNPL and digital cards. 3 in 4 have experimented with at least one emerging payment method in the past year, and 11% use less cash. Over half trust mobile payment apps.

A 2021 report by thinktank Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) shows that while 80% of Morocco’s transactions still use cash, the country has emerged as the third-largest fintech hub in the 22-country Arab League, ranking behind only the UAE and Egypt. Bumps along the road The ecommerce boom in Morocco is not without its hiccups. Earlier this year, on 1st July, Morocco introduced import tariffs on products purchased online from international platforms, in a bid to protect its local economy from what it judged to be unfair competition and illicit activity.

The Administration of Customs and Indirect Taxes (ADII) expressed its concerns about large-scale import operations disguised as shipments of goods bought online, as well as fraud involving the resale of items bought online. Online shopping in the Middle East and North Africa: booming, but with its problems Morocco forms part of a larger trend in the favour of ecommerce in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Mastercard research found that 73% of consumers in the region are shopping online more since the onset of the pandemic.

A McKinsey survey of payment practitioners reveals an estimated 10-20% jump in the non-cash payments across the region, and the expectation that 90% of its consumers will continue using digital payments. However, MENA consumers also continue to express concerns about the safety of buying online. Research by Visa reveals that consumers across the region (e.

g. 52% in Saudi Arabia) would prefer more secure payment methods. The previously cited Mastercard study adds that 62% of consumers surveyed consider secure checkouts essential to their online shopping experience.

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