Bank Al-Maghrib, the Moroccan central bank, and the Grouping for a Moroccan interbank telecompensation system (GSIMT) announce the launch, on June 1, 2023, of instant interbank transfers across the country. The initiative is part of the objectives aimed at modernizing payment systems.

“This new electronic payment service allows anyone to transfer money, in less than 20 seconds, from their account held at one bank to another account opened at another bank. The instant transfer is capped for a transitional period at an amount of 20,000 dirhams (approximately 2,000 USD) and will be offered free of charge to “Individual” customers for three months. After this period, it will be invoiced at the discretion of each bank, ”details a press release dated May 31, 2023.

According to the central bank, the instant transfer platform was set up by the GSIMT in its capacity as manager of the payment system, responsible for the automated processing and clearing of exchanges of cashless means of payment other than bank cards. A platform that it says complies with the international standard for ISO 20022 messages and which also meets the best international standards for security and business continuity.

As a reminder, Moroccan banks have been undertaking a process of modernizing their payment services for several years. In 2015, the Central Bank launched the mobile payment application "M-Wallet", which allowed their customers to make real-time financial transactions from their smartphones.