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A comprehensive analysis of the cards, payments and consumer banking market in Morocco.
Morocco is the sixth-largest economy in Africa. Morocco is predominantly a cash-based society, with the payment cards market in its infancy. Cheque payments and credit transfers were the most popular non-cash payment methods used.
Morocco's cards market is underdeveloped, with card usage representing a proportion of 20 percent in terms of number of transactions and a mere 0.5 percent in terms of billed volume.
Debit cards are the most popular payment card type in the country. Visa dominates the credit cards market both in terms of cards in circulation and billed volume, having leveraged an early entry into the market to cultivate and strengthen its position.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Demographics
The economy
Retail banking
Consumer finance market
Cards market
E-money
Profit pool
Pricing and enhancements
The networks: credit cards
The networks: debit cards
Issuers
Merchant acquiring and processing
Online acquiring
Regulatory and other cards market information
Appendix I: Demographics
Appendix II: The economy
Appendix III: Retail banking
Appendix IV: Consumer finance market
Appendix V: Cards market
Appendix VI: E-money
Appendix VII: Profit pool
Appendix VIII: Pricing and enhancements
Appendix IX: The networks: credit cards
Appendix X: The networks: debit cards
Appendix XI: Card issuers
Appendix XII: Merchant acquiring and processing
Appendix XIII: Online acquiring
Demographics and Economy
Morocco is North Africa's third-largest country, with 33.7 million people; it has a rapidly urbanising population and growing labour force. Morocco is the sixth-largest economy in Africa. Its real GDP growth increased from 2.4 percent in 2014 to 4.2 percent in 2015.
Retail Baking
Morocco's financial system is bank-dominated, with 19 retail banks operating in the country. At the end of 2015, the top five banks in the country in terms of total assets – Attijariwafa Bank, Banque Centrale Populaire (BCP), BMCE Bank, Société Générale Maroc and BMCI -accounted for 71 percent of the country's banking assets and 91 percent of the entire branch network.
Consumer Finance Market
Banks and financing companies offer an array of credit products, such as mortgage loans, vehicle finance, credit cards, personal loans and loans for consumer durables.
Cards market
Morocco is predominantly a cash-based society, with the payment cards market in its infancy; cash represented about 85 percent of total transactions carried out in the country in 2015.
E-Money
The total number of prepaid cards in the country is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 21 percent between 2015 and 2018.
Profit Pool
Historically, the Moroccan credit cards market had high loss rates due to the dominance of consumer finance companies in the credit cards market.
Card Networks:
Credit card penetration is very low in Morocco with around one credit card per 100 adults. Visa dominates the credit cards market both in terms of cards in circulation and billed volume. Visa has traditionally been Morocco's dominant debit card network, with a market share of 56 percent of cards in issue.
Key Retail Banks and Issuers
Although there are 19 banks in the country, the country's five largest banks hold 71 percent of total banking assets. Banks have increased their market share of credit cards market in Morocco at the expense of consumer finance companies.
Acquiring and Processing
Cash transactions still dominate retail spending in Morocco. One of the major reasons why retailers in Morocco sell goods on a cash basis is the fact that they need cash to make small value payments to their suppliers. Cash is still favoured in Morocco as the cost of processing POS transactions and operating the data communication networks is deemed to be high.
Online Acquiring
The total online acquired billed volume made using payment cards in Morocco accounted for an estimated $134 million in 2015, with the number of transactions accounting to two million.
Regulatory and Markets Information
The central bank has taken various initiatives, including three-year strategic plans to enhance financial inclusion. As part of the plan for 2013-15, the central bank urged banks to develop strategies to increase the banked population among low-income consumers.
Financial reports include detailed market and competitor intelligence on payments cards, e-money, acquiring, retail banking, and consumer credit in Africa. Analysts use primary and secondary source data and conduct in-depth interviews with senior industry executives and Africa finance experts.
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