Morocco’s central bank detailed in a recent report its efforts to reduce reliance on cash- which has been dominating the economy- and promoting mobile payments to boost financial inclusion.
In its 2024 annual report on financial market infrastructure and payment systems, Bank Al-Maghrib outlined regulatory and operational measures aimed to address entrenched habits relying on cash.
A large informal economy and lingering distrust of the tax system have kept cash usage high.
Demand for banknotes remains above pre-pandemic levels, it declined in 2024, partly due to a tax amnesty that absorbed about 37 billion dirhams ($3.7 billion) in cash holdings.
Mobile payments account for just 0.1% of total transactions, the bank said, calling for coordinated efforts to improve consumer awareness and merchant acceptance.
Bank Al-Maghrib eased rules for payment institutions to support digital distribution of social aid, helping drive adoption of mobile wallets.
By the end of 2024, Morocco had 21 mobile wallet offerings, with accounts rising to 13.8 million from 10.3 million a year earlier. Transactions nearly doubled to 19.7 million, totaling 3.9 billion dirhams, mostly linked to social aid transfers.
The central bank said it is working with the World Bank to map government-to-citizen payment flows and expand digitalization of public payments. It also pledged to foster a domestic digital finance industry and improve interoperability among payment solutions.
