Oversight and Regulation of Non-bank Payment Service Providers in Morocco
Project Development Objective (PDO)
The objective of this project is to strengthen the oversight arrangements for non-bank payment service providers and formulate reforms related to government payments and remittances road maps.
Background
Morocco’s national payment system (NPS) has undergone significant improvement in the past few years. However, several areas require improvement. First, the central bank of Morocco (Bank Al-Maghrib, or BAM) has undertaken a policy to allow non-bank entities to provide payment services and is now making the necessary changes in its legal and regulatory framework to allow such services. However, it lacks a framework for overseeing the non-bank payment service providers. Second, the remittance services in Morocco are still substantially cash based, and these have not benefited from the recent various innovations in retail payment systems. Finally, although payments between government and persons have shifted substantially to electronic means, payments between government and businesses remain predominantly check based.
Activities
The activities of this technical assistance project include the following:
1. Developing a framework for effective oversight of the non-bank payment service providers
that would be licensed by the BAM in due course
2. Drafting additional regulations to support the implementation of the proposed oversight
framework
3. Creating a roadmap for electronic government payments, based on a comprehensive analysis
of the existing arrangements, culminating in a set of detailed recommendations to bring
about increased adoption of electronic payment mechanisms for such payments
4. Developing a roadmap for the integration of remittance services with the NPS, including a set
of recommendations
Expected Outcomes
The expected outcomes of from this project are as follows:
Short-term outcomes
1. Enabling the BAM to effectively oversee the non-bank payment service providers, thereby
enabling the non-bank entities to effectively contribute to the Morocco NPS
2. Adopting a coordinated set of actions to bring about both a shift in the government payments
to electronic payment mechanisms and an improved enabling environment for better
integration of the international remittances with the NPS
Medium-term outcomes
1. Expanding the number of payment service providers, which would likely result in more
individuals having access to payment services
2. Reducing the price of payment services, which in turn would likely lead to an increase in the
number of payments processed electronically
3. Increasing the number of locations and branches where financial services can be offered
within the economy