Card acquiring fees in Morocco: what changes on 1 October 2026

Bank Al-Maghrib is cutting the interchange cap and ending CMI’s monopoly. Here is what to check on your own statement.

By BelloCommerce

September 8, 2026

You pay a commission on every card payment, you roughly know the rate, and you have never checked it. On 1 October 2026 Bank Al-Maghrib cuts the cap on domestic card interchange from 0.65% to 0.50% excluding tax, with a 0.15% cap for proximity merchants, and ends CMI’s monopoly. This is a good moment to find out what you actually pay.

Merchant comparing card processing statements.

The essentials in five points

Interchange falls from 0.65% to 0.50% excluding tax on 1 October 2026, by decision of Bank Al-Maghrib.
A reduced 0.15% cap applies to proximity merchants and to online public services.
Interchange is only one component of your commission: the rest remunerates your acquirer.
The end of CMI’s monopoly opens competition, which makes renegotiation genuinely possible for the first time.
The commission is never passed to the customer: no surcharge, and no minimum purchase.

1. What your commission is made of

The single rate you see on your contract actually bundles several deductions that go to different parties. Understanding that breakdown is what lets you negotiate, because only part of it is negotiable.

Interchange fees: Passed to the bank that issued your customer’s card. This is the share Bank Al-Maghrib caps, and it is not negotiable: it applies to everyone.
The acquirer’s commission: The fee of the institution that processes your takings. This is the genuinely negotiable share, and where competition will bite.
Network fees: Taken by the card network for processing the operation. Small, but real.
Terminal rental: Billed separately, usually monthly. It sits outside the rate, which is why a low percentage can hide an expensive subscription.

That last line explains most unpleasant surprises: comparing two offers on the percentage alone is meaningless if one charges three times as much for the terminal.

2. What the October 2026 decision changes

Cutting the interchange cap acts on the component you do not negotiate. It does not automatically reduce your headline rate: it lowers your acquirer’s cost, and it is up to you to ask for that reduction to be passed on.

Item	Before	From 1 October 2026
D	o	m	e	s	t	i	c		i	n	t	e	r	c	h	a	n	g	e	c	a	p
0	.	6	5	%		e	x	c	l	.		t	a	x
0	.	5	0	%		e	x	c	l	.		t	a	x

The end of the monopoly is the most structural part over the medium term. While a single operator processed domestic payments, changing acquirer changed little about the cost. Opening it up makes a genuine competitive tender possible, which it previously was not.

Do not, however, expect an immediate effect on your October statement: your contract is running, and a renegotiation is something you ask for rather than something that applies itself.

3. Working out your real rate in five minutes

The figure that matters is not the contractual one but what you effectively pay, all charges included. It is calculated once a month and compared month to month.

Take the month’s total card takings from your settlement advices.
Take the total actually credited to your account for those same settlements.
The difference is your processing cost for the month, excluding terminal rental.
Divide that difference by the total taken to obtain your real rate.
Add the monthly terminal rental divided by the same total, for the full cost.

Run this over two or three months before any discussion. A merchant who arrives with a documented real rate gets a different answer from one asking for “a better price”, and the conversation becomes a comparison rather than a favour.

The cycle that explains the gap between the amount taken and the amount credited is set out in our guide to authorisation, settlement and the bank credit.

A lower advertised rate is not necessarily a better offer

Terminal rental, fixed per-transaction fees and foreign card processing all sit outside the advertised percentage. A reduced-rate offer with a high monthly subscription costs more than an average rate with no fixed fees once your average basket is modest. Always compare on the full cost of a real month, not on the percentage.

4. What you cannot do, and what the till gives you

One rule does not move with the reform: the commission stays the merchant’s cost. Charging a supplement for card payment, or refusing cards below an amount, passes it to the customer, which Bank Al-Maghrib expressly forbids. If the rate weighs on you, the answer is renegotiation, not transfer.

BelloPOS records every sale with its payment method, giving you the period’s card total without reconstructing it. The software knows neither the commission deducted nor the amount credited: both come from the advice and the statement. Setting the three sources against each other is precisely what produces your real rate.

BelloPOS

All the features

Mistakes to avoid

Comparing two offers on the percentage alone — Terminal rental and fixed fees completely reorder the ranking. Compare a full month.
Waiting for the cut to apply itself — The cap reduces your acquirer’s cost. Having it passed on to you is a request you have to make.
Never checking the rate actually deducted — Many merchants know their contractual rate without ever having verified what they pay.
Setting a minimum purchase for cards — That is an indirect way of passing on the commission, and it is prohibited just as a surcharge is.

Frequently asked questions

Will my commission fall automatically on 1 October?

Not necessarily. The cap applies to interchange, one component of your cost. Whether it reaches your headline rate depends on your contract and is a matter for negotiation.

How do I know whether the 0.15% cap applies to me?

That reduced cap targets proximity merchants and online public services. The classification rests with your acquirer: ask them in writing which regime you are in.

Can I change acquirer mid-contract?

It depends on the term and notice period stipulated. Read those clauses before opening a discussion: knowing your renewal date changes your negotiating position.

Are foreign cards affected?

No, the cap covers domestic interchange. Operations on cards issued abroad follow other schedules, generally higher ones.

What to take away

From 1 October 2026 domestic interchange is capped at 0.50% excluding tax, 0.15% for proximity merchants, and card processing opens to competition. None of it reaches your statement by itself: calculate your real rate over two months, then ask in writing for the reduction to be passed on. And never try to charge the commission to the customer.