Credit cards, internet access, and online bill pay: Moroccan e-commerce is booming

Without a doubt, e-commerce in Morocco is experiencing a peak of interest. Over the last seven years, we’ve seen, at my startup Synergie Media, an explosion in demand for online payment options. And every time I speak at entrepreneurship events, I get at least one question on e-commerce. It’s high time to do an overview of the sector.

A few figures

The country counts more than 6.9 million internet subscribers, according to theNational Agency for Regulation of Telecommunications (ANRT), with average quarterly increases of 10.6%, and yearly increases of 57.3%. By the end of March 2014, the internet penetration rate had stabilized at 19.45%, meaning that 16 million Moroccans – around one in five – had internet access. Interestingly mobile internet exceeded DSL in terms of sheer number of registrations; mobile internet now represents 86% of the market share.

According to Maroc Telecommerce, the first e-commerce operator in the country, the amount of purchases and payment online has increased from $3.8 million USD in 2008 to $90 million USD in 2012, with more than 1.25 million transactions on the platform alone. The Interbank Monetary Center (CMI) also reported high figures, claiming that 9.5 million credit cards were in circulation in 2013, and more than 171 million online bill pay transactions were undertaken between January and September 2013, totaling $17.7 billion USD.

In a nutshell, these figures mean that a) more Moroccans than ever have regular access to the internet, b) Moroccan banks are issuing more credit cards than ever before, and c) More Moroccans than ever are paying their bills online.

Original link:

Credit cards, internet access, and online bill pay: Moroccan e-commerce is booming