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Rabat– Bank Al-Maghrib (BAM) is looking to fintech startups to help reduce Morocco’s reliance on cash and accelerate the adoption of digital payments, as the central bank pushes forward with its financial modernization agenda.
Speaking at the closing ceremony of the Morocco Fintech Booster acceleration program, BAM Director General Abderrahim Bouazza said fintech companies have a critical role to play in expanding digital financial services and addressing long-standing challenges in Morocco’s payment ecosystem.
Despite regulatory reforms and technological progress, Bouazza noted that cash continues to dominate transactions across the country. He attributed the persistence of cash usage to several factors, including a preference for anonymity, precautionary savings, and the continued presence of the informal economy. He also pointed to the growing use of crypto-assets as evidence of evolving financial behaviors outside the traditional banking system.
According to the central bank, digital payment adoption remains constrained by limited merchant acceptance, gaps in financial inclusion—particularly in rural areas and among women—and the incomplete digitization of public payments. These barriers, Bouazza said, highlight the untapped potential of Morocco’s digital finance sector.
BAM believes fintech startups are now entering a phase where they must move beyond experimentation and deliver practical, scalable solutions that respond to the needs of consumers, businesses, and public institutions.
The central bank highlighted a series of reforms introduced in recent years to encourage innovation, including opening the market to payment institutions, launching an interoperable mobile payment system, and easing regulatory requirements in 2024 to support new entrants.
Looking ahead, BAM is preparing the next phase of its digital finance strategy with the introduction of an Open Banking framework.
The initiative is expected to facilitate services such as account aggregation, payment initiation, digital identity verification, and credit scoring, enabling fintech companies to develop more personalized and efficient financial products.
The central bank also noted that Morocco’s crowdfunding framework has already resulted in the licensing of three digital platforms specializing in donations and lending, reflecting the gradual expansion of the country’s financial technology ecosystem.
Innovation must be matched by trust
Bouazza emphasized that Morocco’s fintech ambitions are unfolding against a backdrop of rapid global innovation, including decentralized finance (DeFi), stablecoins, tokenization, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and artificial intelligence.
While these technologies present new opportunities to transform payments and financial services, they also require stronger safeguards to protect cybersecurity, personal data, and confidence in the financial system.
To support the sector’s growth, BAM pledged to further simplify its regulatory framework, accelerate the processing of applications submitted by fintech startups, and improve regulatory transparency while maintaining financial stability.
By placing fintech innovation at the center of its strategy, the central bank aims to transform Morocco’s heavy dependence on cash into an opportunity to expand financial inclusion and build a more digital, accessible, and resilient payments ecosystem.
