Instant Payments in Morocco in 2026: The Real End of Cash?

A telling gap between equipment and usage

Morocco has crossed a symbolic threshold: mobile wallets now number in the millions, and terminal payments grow at double digits every year. Yet behind these flattering curves lies a more nuanced reality. Moroccans are adopting digital payment tools in large numbers, but not yet to pay in stores. It is precisely this gap that frames the real challenge of 2026.

In our analysis of Morocco and the cashless society, we laid out the state of the transition. This article is its complement: it focuses on instant payment and interoperability, the two levers that can finally turn equipment into real usage at the point of sale.

Wallets are booming, but mostly serve transfers

According to Bank Al-Maghrib figures, Morocco had around 13.7 million active mobile wallets in 2024, up 32% year over year. The momentum continued: the base reached nearly 16.4 million at the end of 2025. Notably, payment institutions, rather than traditional banks, hold about 73% of these wallets, a sign that new players are driving the growth.

But the number of wallets does not tell the whole story. What matters is how they are used. And here, Bank Al-Maghrib data reveals a clear concentration on money transfers rather than in-store purchases.

The message is clear: the Moroccan wallet is today a tool for transfers between individuals, not an everyday means of payment at the merchant. The share of mobile-to-mobile transfers jumped from about 17% to about 27% in one year, while in-store payment plateaus around 6%. The reflex of "I pay with my phone at the checkout" is not yet established.

The terminal confirms its central role

The POS channel tells a different and complementary story. Still according to Bank Al-Maghrib figures, terminal payments reached around 184.5 million operations, up 20%, for a value of around 58.6 billion dirhams.

In other words, when Moroccans pay electronically in a store, they still do so overwhelmingly by card, on a terminal. The terminal remains the physical touchpoint of the cashless economy, and its sustained growth shows that acceptance is genuinely progressing wherever merchants are equipped.

So the question is not "card versus wallet." It is: how do we bring these two channels together on a single acceptance point, so that the merchant has nothing extra to manage and the customer pays however they want.

Interoperability and instant payment: the real trigger

This is where the missing link comes in. A national interoperability standard lets the holder of any wallet or e-payment account pay at any accepting merchant, regardless of the issuer. In practice, a customer no longer needs their wallet and the merchant's to be "the same brand": the payment flows through a shared switch.

This interoperability is carried by the national brand Maroc Pay and operated through HPS Switch. The principle is simple and powerful: a single acceptance point, open to all issuers. Paired with instant payment, which credits the recipient in a few seconds, it removes the two historical obstacles to in-store mobile payment: uncertainty about acceptance and the delay in receiving funds.

The central bank's message, however, remains prudent. The stated goal is not to decree the end of cash, which still dominates widely, but to strengthen functional interoperability across all channels: POS, e-commerce, wallets and ATMs. The idea is to ease acceptance on the merchant side, a necessary condition for in-store usage to take off.

A next step, often discussed around a universal interoperable QR, is expected but not yet officially confirmed. It would be premature to present it as a done deal. What is certain, on the other hand, is that the interoperability building block is already in place and that it changes the game for anyone who wants to accept broadly.

What this concretely changes for merchants

For a Moroccan merchant, reading these figures leads to a practical conclusion. Cash still dominates, but the shift is taking shape on the ground of acceptance. Businesses positioned to accept every payment method without friction will be best placed when in-store wallet usage finally catches up with the equipment curve.

In concrete terms, accepting broadly means covering three families on a single terminal:

• The bank card, national and international, which remains the engine of in-store payment with around 184.5 million operations.
• Contactless, whose smoothness conditions everyday adoption. We detail its benefits in our article on the benefits of NFC contactless payment.
• The interoperable mobile wallet, still a minority at around 6% of usage, but whose trajectory will depend directly on how easy it is to accept.

The merchant who waits "for wallets to become the majority" before getting equipped has the logic backwards. Acceptance creates usage, not the other way around. Every checkout able to accept card, contactless and interoperable wallet alike is an additional touchpoint that moves the ecosystem forward, while already capturing the 6% who pay by mobile and the roughly 184 million card operations.

A transition decided on acceptance

Bank Al-Maghrib figures paint a country moving fast but unevenly. Equipment is progressing, wallets are multiplying, the terminal confirms its role. The missing link remains in-store wallet usage, and that is precisely what interoperability and instant payment are built to unlock.

The central bank's prudence is healthy: the end of cash is not decreed, the conditions for its decline are patiently built. In that logic, the role of on-the-ground players is decisive. By making electronic payment accessible and simple for close to 600 equipped merchants, TKpay contributes directly to turning equipment into real usage.

This approach is fully aligned with the national strategy of Bank Al-Maghrib, which makes functional interoperability the keystone of the transition.

In practice with TKpay

Discover our payment terminals designed to accept broadly, from card to contactless. A business ready for interoperability today is a business ready for the post-cash era of tomorrow.

Want to position your business for this transition? Contact the TKpay team for support tailored to your activity.