Morocco’s Competition Council has approved groundbreaking reforms opening the electronic payment terminal (EPT) market to multiple operators starting May 1, 2025, ending the Interbank Electronic Center’s (CMI) near-monopoly and potentially transforming the kingdom’s digital economy landscape.
The decision represents a crucial lever in Morocco’s broader ambition to modernize financial exchanges and contain the informal economy’s growth. In a country where cash transactions remain predominant, expanding EPT adoption appears essential for anchoring transactions in more transparent, secure circuits while supporting Bank Al-Maghrib’s digitalization strategy.
Previously, CMI controlled over 97% market share, limiting innovation and restricting electronic payment access primarily to large retailers and structured businesses. Market liberalization should enable more diversified solutions tailored to small merchants’ specific needs, facilitating their integration into the digital system.
“Liberalization will stimulate innovation and democratize access to services previously reserved for commercial elites,” notes a sector expert. For numerous small traders, acquiring modern terminals represents an entry point toward formalizing their activities, potentially broadening the tax base and reducing public finance pressure through improved fraud prevention.
However, this opening brings challenges requiring careful regulatory oversight. Multiple operators’ arrival, including agile fintech startups and established banking subsidiaries, demands vigilant supervision to maintain consumer confidence, particularly regarding cybersecurity concerns.
Regulators must balance fostering innovation with preserving payment system integrity through technology standardization, solution certification, and data protection. Merchant training and support appear crucial for success, ensuring tools are understood, mastered, and fully integrated into users’ daily operations.
CMI faces pressure to reinvent itself, capitalizing on technological innovation, infrastructure reliability, and accumulated experience. This reform crystallizes hopes for a more inclusive, competitive Morocco, placing electronic payments at modernization efforts’ core while requiring constant vigilance to ensure digitalization becomes an effective driver of shared development.