The Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT) has issued a note, addressed to banks, the National Post Office, and payment institutions regarding the exercise of the payment facilitator activity. Additionally, the Bank urges financial institutions to take specific measures. They are required to submit, two months before the operationalization of any partnership project with a payment facilitator, a request accompanied by contractual documents and a project description.

In reality, the guiding principles to be respected include governance, financial stability, management of the “Acquirer/payment facilitator” and “payment facilitator/sub-merchant” relationships, risk management, data protection, compliance with anti-terrorism financing and money laundering, reporting to sub-merchants, guarantee mechanisms, security, economic model, claims management, and quarterly reporting to the BCT.

It is essential that the payment facilitator activity does not compromise areas within the banking monopoly. The BCT also recommends that the payment facilitator avoids any ambiguity about the nature of its activity, particularly through advertising campaigns. At the same time, it actively encourages the development of digital payments through partnerships with local Fintechs, aiming to promote financial inclusion for small traders and artisans through innovative and economically accessible technological solutions.

Fintech partner banks Tunisia Fintech partner banks Tunisia

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.  As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard.