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Morocco Cards & Payments Market Report

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  • Published Date: November 2016

MOROCCO CARDS AND PAYMENTS REPORT

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.

MOROCCO COUNTRY REPORT | KEY FACTS

  • Morocco's retail banking infrastructure has improved strongly in recent years.
  • The number of bank branches, ATMs and POS terminals increased by 74 per cent, 58 per cent and 59 per cent respectively.
  • The central bank has instituted a series of three-year strategic plans to enhance financial inclusion in the country. The banked population stood at around 68 per cent at the end of 2015, an increase from 47 per cent in 2009.
  • The current strategic plan, covering 2016-2018, focuses on reinforcing customer protection, developing competition among banks and formulating strategies to adapt to the digital revolution in the banking sector.
  • In January 2015, the Moroccan government approved legislation to allow local and foreign banking institutions to set up full-fledged Islamic banks in the country.
  • Mortgage loans account for over 80 per cent of consumer credit outstandings; Morocco has one of the most diverse and advanced housing markets in the region.
  • Credit card outstandings have drastically declined, from $68 million in 2009 to $16 million at the end of 2015, as consumer preferences have shifted to other forms of lending products such as personal loans, consumer durable loans and overdrafts.
  • Limits on overseas spending have constrained the development of the Premium credit card segment in Morocco, while a cap on APRs limits interest income.
  • Debit card penetration is estimated to surpass 40 per cent in 2016. Over 90 per cent of debit card use is at the ATM.
  • Visa is Morocco's leading network in both the credit card and debit card markets.
  • CMI, a bank-owned company, operates the country's domestic debit network and is the country's single merchant acquirer.

Morocco Payments Research | Report Contents

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

  • Population metrics
  • Ownership of key consumer goods
  • Internet usage by population

Appendix II: The economy

  • Major economic indicators

Appendix III: Retail banking

  • Major retail banking indicators
  • Banking/infrastructure penetration
  • Retail banks key metrics
  • Retail banks profit & loss metrics

Appendix IV: Consumer finance market

  • Consumer credit outstandings and indebtedness
  • Consumer credit outstandings by product

Appendix V: Cards market

  • Credit card numbers
  • Total credit card metrics
  • Consumer credit cards metrics
  • Commercial credit cards metrics
  • Credit cards profitability Indicators
  • Debit card numbers
  • Debit cards metrics

Appendix VI: E-money

  • Prepaid/e-money cards metrics

Appendix VII: Profit pool

  • Profit pool

Appendix VIII: Pricing and enhancements

  • Card pricing and enhancements

Appendix IX: The networks: credit cards

  • Networks' credit card market shares
  • Networks' credit card numbers
  • Networks' credit card billed volume
  • Networks' number of credit card transactions
  • Networks' average credit card transaction value
  • Credit card interchange fees by network

Appendix X: The networks: debit cards

  • Networks' debit card market shares
  • Networks' debit card numbers
  • Networks' debit card billed volume
  • Networks' number of debit card transactions
  • Networks' average debit card transaction value
  • Debit card interchange fees by network

Appendix XI: Card issuers

  • Key credit card issuers market shares by credit card numbers
  • Key issuers market shares in credit card outstandings
  • Key debit card Issuers market shares by debit card numbers

Appendix XII: Merchant acquiring and processing

  • Merchant acquirer credit card market share
  • Credit card merchant service charges
  • Merchant acquirer debit card market share
  • Debit card merchant service charges
  • Credit card issuer/issuing processor relationships
  • Credit card acquirer/acquiring processor relationships
  • Credit card issuing processor market shares by card numbers
  • Credit card acquiring processor market shares by the number of POS transactions

Appendix XIII: Online acquiring

  • Online merchant acquirer market share

Morocco Country Report | Selected Extracts


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.

MORE AFRICA CARDS & PAYMENTS REPORTS

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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