Morocco does not have an open banking framework. No draft regulation, no consultation paper, no published timeline. In a region where even the most digitally advanced economies are still debating how to structure third-party data access, Morocco is focused on something more basic: getting people to stop using cash.
As of December 2024, about 58% of Moroccan adults held a bank account, up from 54% the year before and 29% in 2017. That leaves roughly 16 million people outside the formal financial system. The gender gap is wide too: 35% of women have accounts, compared to 55% of men.
Mobile wallet adoption sits at around 12%, ranking among the lowest on the continent. Cash transactions hit 402 million in 2023, a 12% jump from the previous year. Moroccans are withdrawing more cash, not less.
This is the starting point. Any conversation about open banking in Morocco has to begin here, because the infrastructure being built right now is not aimed at enabling API-based data sharing between fintechs. It is aimed at making digital payments work at all.
Bank Al-Maghrib (BAM), the central bank, is the primary financial regulator. It supervises banks, payment institutions, and credit operations. In December 2025, BAM published a new guide aimed at fintech project holders, laying out the process for engaging with the Directorate of Banking Supervision. The guide covers how to set up initial meetings, what documentation is required for licensing, and what the approval timeline looks like. Applications are generally processed within four months, though outcomes can range from unconditional approval to outright refusal.
This is not an open banking directive. It is a procedural roadmap for fintechs trying to figure out where they fit within Morocco’s regulatory structure. But it matters because it signals that BAM is paying attention to the sector and trying to reduce the ambiguity that has historically slowed fintech activity in the country.
Morocco’s data protection law, Law 09-08, dates back to 2009. It establishes basic requirements around consent, data processing declarations, and cross-border transfer authorizations through the CNDP (National Supervisory Commission for Personal Data Protection). But it was written before data portability, consent-based API sharing, or third-party provider frameworks were part of the regulatory vocabulary. Any future open banking framework would need either a significant amendment to this law or a separate data-sharing regulation entirely.
Financial data in Morocco is classified as sensitive and must be hosted on national territory. That adds another layer of complexity for any cross-border or cloud-based fintech infrastructure.
Morocco’s instant payment system, known locally as Virement Instantané, allows real-time bank-to-bank transfers in under 20 seconds, available 24/7. Transactions are currently capped at 20,000 dirhams per transfer. The system is functional but adoption is still growing.
BAM developed an interoperable mobile payment platform along with the National Telecommunications Regulatory Agency. The result is MarocPay, which connects wallets across different providers for the first time. An Orange Money user can now pay at a merchant terminal operated by another provider, and vice versa. The system is built on a standardized national QR code framework and runs through a mobile payment switch operated by HPS.
In May 2025, the Competition Council broke up the long-standing quasi-monopoly of the Centre Monétique Interbancaire (CMI) on the acquiring market, opening it to banks and specialized providers including Attijari Payment, Chaabi Payment, and fintech entrants like NAPS. Interchange fees were capped at 0.65% from October 2024. These are structural changes that could gradually shift the economics of digital payments in Morocco.
Bank Al-Maghrib is developing a central bank digital currency called the e-Dirham. The project has become a stated priority of the BAM Governor, with technical testing underway and legal and regulatory studies in progress, supported by the World Bank and the IMF.
BAM is also running a cross-border CBDC experiment in collaboration with the Central Bank of Egypt, with World Bank support, focused on remittance and transfer use cases.
The e-Dirham is designed to work with a basic mobile phone, no bank account required. That makes it particularly relevant for informal workers, small businesses, cooperatives, and rural populations who have been difficult to reach through traditional banking.
BAM is preparing to migrate to the ISO 20022 messaging standard, which would improve data quality and interoperability across the financial system. This is relevant to open banking because richer, standardized payment data is easier to share through APIs when the time comes.
Morocco has a growing fintech sector, though it remains small compared to markets like Nigeria, Kenya, or South Africa. The 2025 Morocco FinTech Center supports startups with funding and regulatory guidance. Companies like Talaty are using AI-driven credit scoring with alternative data to extend credit to underserved populations.
In February 2026, the African Development Bank awarded a $510,000 grant to Bank Al-Maghrib to support the development of digital payments and financial inclusion. The same month, Morocco launched “Stay Cashless,” a programme to digitize tourism payments.
GITEX Africa 2026, held in Marrakech in April, included sessions focused specifically on bridging the gap between banks and technology companies, a recurring theme in Morocco’s digital finance conversation.
There are a few straightforward reasons Morocco has not moved toward open banking.
First, the financial inclusion baseline is still low. When 42% of adults do not have a bank account and mobile wallet usage sits at 12%, the priority is adoption, not data portability. Open banking assumes a functioning digital financial ecosystem where customers have accounts, generate transaction data, and want to move between providers. Morocco is not there yet.
Second, cash remains dominant. The 402 million cash transactions recorded in 2023 grew from the previous year. Any shift toward digital will take years of sustained effort across merchant acceptance, consumer behavior, and trust in digital platforms.
Third, the data protection framework needs work. Law 09-08 was written 17 years ago and does not address the kind of consent-based, real-time data sharing that open banking requires. Updating it, or creating a parallel framework, is a prerequisite.
Fourth, the institutional focus is elsewhere. BAM is investing in instant payments, CBDC development, wallet interoperability, and competition reform in the acquiring market. These are all preconditions for open banking, but they are being pursued on their own terms, not as part of an open banking strategy.
Morocco is building more open banking prerequisites than it gets credit for. The instant payment rails are live. Wallet interoperability now exists. The acquiring market has been opened to competition. A CBDC is in testing. And the fintech regulatory pathway has been formalized.
If the e-Dirham reaches scale and millions of previously unbanked Moroccans begin generating digital transaction data, the case for structured data-sharing frameworks gets stronger fast. The same applies if MarocPay adoption picks up and wallet-based commerce becomes routine rather than exceptional.
Morocco also has something many African markets lack: a relatively strong banking sector with international reach. Moroccan banks operate across West and Central Africa. If a regional open banking standard were to emerge through bodies like BEAC or the AfCFTA, Morocco’s banks would have both the infrastructure and the commercial incentive to participate.
For now, though, open banking in Morocco is a medium-term possibility, not a near-term priority. The foundation work is real. The policy conversation has not started.
Important links
Open Banking Nigeria (Open Technology Foundation) is a non-profit backed by a group of industry experts across banking, fintech, risk management, and more to drive and launch the open banking standard in Nigeria.
