Card Payments: Here's Why Moroccan Small Shop Owners Refuse to Adopt Them
Ryad Mezzour, Minister of Industry and Trade, explains the weak deployment of electronic payment among small Moroccan merchants by a major obstacle: the cost of transactions that heavily cuts into their profit margins.
During the opening of the National Commerce Forum, the minister emphasized that the adoption of digital solutions remains disappointing, despite professionals’ willingness to invest in them. Ryad Mezzour detailed this blockage by recalling that a small retailer’s margin on basic products ranges only between 2 and 4%. However, fees related to electronic payment can consume between 50 and 75% of this gain, which logically justifies their reluctance toward this billing method.
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To reverse the trend, the minister proposes lowering the cost of electronic payment to 0.8%, bringing the charge down to between 20 and 40% of the seller’s margin. To offset these deductions, he also suggests increasing benefits on phone recharge cards by 10%. Finally, to definitively convince merchants, Ryad Mezzour promises an acceleration of cash flows: amounts paid electronically by customers will be transferred to them instantly, eliminating the usual waiting period of two to three days.
