E-transactions on the rise among Moroccans, report finds

Moroccans spent nearly 3 billion MAD on online shopping in the first three months of this year, according to the most recent data by the CMI on monetary activity.

Moroccan card payment transactions in stores and online totaled 36.2 million transactions, worth 12.8 billion MAD, an increase of 23.8% in terms of volume and 22.8% in terms of value over the same period in 2022.

Moroccans are increasingly using their cards to make purchases in stores and on websites. Adam prefers to use his card to make purchases rather than cash because it is more “convenient” and simpler to carry out.

He makes use of it for purchases such as train tickets, festival tickets, or food and beverages. However, he stops using it as soon as his finances begin to worsen to be cautious with his money.

But for Yassine, who still pays with cash, using a credit card is not the best option for budgeting and money management because “you never really know how much you spent when you pay with a credit card. I find it easier to keep track of my spending when I can see cash money. “

In contrast to card payments, Yassine comprehends how much money he has left when he sees the change. Compared to paying with cash, Yassine spends more when using his credit card.

Card payments, according to Yassine, do not promote prudent money management or an accurate accounting of expenditures.

In comparison to the same period in 2022, “the monetary operations for cash withdrawals through automatic windows, payment operations by electronic cards in stores, and payment operations through automated teller machines showed an increase of 16.6% in terms of the number of operations and by 18.4% in terms of financial value.” Said the report.

The total number of Moroccan card withdrawals through automatic windows in Morocco during the first quarter of the current year came to 94.4 million, with a value of 92.7 billion MAD, a growth of 9.6% in terms of the number of transactions and 11.9 % in terms of the amount.

Payment operations at automatic windows using Moroccan cards for the payment of bills and taxes as well as the purchase of phone call filling units recorded 298 thousand transactions totaling 87.2 million MAD.

Regarding Moroccan cards that can be used internationally, 3.7 million transactions totaling 2.3 billion MAD were made using those cards, including withdrawals and payments. This represents a decrease of 0.9% in terms of volume and an increase of 32.1% in terms of value when compared to the same period in 2022.