Morocco sees increase in individuals prohibited from issuing checks

The number of individuals banned from issuing checks in Morocco rose to 701,000 in the past year, up from 691,000, with individuals making up 85% of these cases.

Bank Al-Maghrib’s annual report reveals that 802,826 checks were rejected for various reasons, resulting in an overall rejection rate of 3.2%, slightly down from 3.3% in 2022. Notably, 57.5% of rejections were due to insufficient funds at the time the checks were presented, compared to 60.1% the previous year.

The report also indicated that 82% of unresolved non-payments at the end of the year fell between 1,000 and 50,000 dirhams, with 37% of these amounts specifically between 10,000 and 50,000 dirhams. Checks exceeding 100,000 dirhams accounted for 56% of the total value of unpaid checks, although they represented only 6% of the total number.

In terms of payment methods, bank transfers held the top position, representing 45.2% of total transactions, up from 44.8% in 2022. Credit card usage accounted for 33.4%, while deductions were third at 10.8%. Checks dropped to 6.3%, down from 7.5% the previous year.

The decline in check usage aligns with Bank Al-Maghrib’s efforts to promote electronic payment methods. This trend accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic and continued into last year.

Last year saw 511,420 non-payment cases related to checks, a decrease of 8.7% from 2022, with related amounts dropping by 2.5%. Banks submitted two million inquiries regarding check statuses, an increase of 16%.

The report highlighted the effectiveness of fraud detection systems in enhancing security for payment methods and implementing necessary corrective measures in collaboration with market issuers.

In the first quarter, non-payment cases averaged 46,000, down from about 47,000 during the same period in 2022. The number of settlements fell by 29.4%, declining from 181,000 to 127,858, while the total settlement amount decreased to 2.7 billion dirhams from 4.5 billion in the previous year.