Online payment continues its upward trend with a 36% increase in the number of transactions carried out compared to the same period last year, according to the latest report from the Interbank Electronic Payment Center (CMI).
Bank cards continue to appeal to Moroccans, particularly for online purchases. According to the latest statistics from the Interbank Electronic Payment Center (CMI), overall electronic payment activity increased by 16% in the number of operations and 13.2% in the total amount disbursed, i.e. 200.6 billion dirhams compared to the first half. of 2021, thanks in particular to the very strong recovery in foreign card activity.
To date, 18.6 million bank cards are in circulation in Morocco, including nearly 12.7 million cards with the “contactless” functionality, specifies the CMI, which indicates that payment activity has been more dynamic than withdrawal activity, with an increase in card payments of +27% in number of transactions and +18.7% in the overall amount.
By sector, payments by Moroccan bank cards are used primarily in mass distribution (24.2%), followed by stations (10.9%), clothing (10.3%), restaurants (7. 3%), health (5.8%), furniture and electrical items (4.8%), then other sectors (36.8%).
Withdrawals by bank card saw an increase of +10.5% in number of transactions and +9.4% in overall amount during the 1er quarter of 2022 compared to the same period of 2021.
The activity of Moroccan cards abroad achieved an increase of +38.5% in number of operations and +75.2% in total amount during the 1er half of 2022 compared to the same period of 2021.
E-commerce continues to boom
For the first six months of the year, merchant sites and biller sites affiliated with the CMI carried out nearly 12.8 million online payment transactions via bank cards, Moroccan and foreign, for a total amount of 4, 6 billion dirhams, up +36% in number and +21.3% in amount compared to the same period of 2021.
Foreign card online payment activity increased by 55.7% in number of transactions, from 308,000 transactions in the first half of 2021 to 480,000 transactions in the first half of 2022, and increased by + 102.2% in amount, going from 166.8 million dirhams in the first half of 2021 to 337.2 million dirhams during the same period this year.
Weak progress of the ATM network
The extension of the ATM network has slowed down sharply with the installation of only 5 new ATMs during the first half of 2022. The network currently has 8,017 ATMs, indicates the CMI.
The best-equipped cities are Casablanca with 1,542 ATMs, Marrakech with 680 ATMs, Rabat with 649 ATMs, Tangier with 485 ATMs, Agadir with 422 ATMs and Fez with 401 ATMs.
The ATM network carried out during the first half of 2022, 187 million withdrawals made by Moroccan and foreign bank cards, up +11.1%, for a total amount of 172.5 billion dirhams, up +10, 1%. That is an average monthly activity of 4,469 withdrawal operations for a total amount of 4.3 million dirhams for each ATM.