Electronic payment: here are the CMI’s commitments to put an end to anti-competitive practices

The complaint of NAPS SA had led to an in-depth investigation by the Competition Council. Investigators have highlighted concerns about practices likely to hinder competition in this strategic market. In response, the CMI and its shareholder banks proposed structural and behavioral commitments, approved after a public consultation completed on October 30, 2024without any objection having been registered.

Structural commitments: selling activities to promote competition

Among the structural measures, the CMI undertakes to transfer all of its merchant membership contracts for the Electronic Payment Terminal (TPE) and online payment (PEL) to independent payment establishments, including banking subsidiaries. At the same time, it renounces soliciting new customers for these services during a transition period of 12 months. This transfer will be accompanied by a commitment to maintain the economic viability of these contracts during the transition.

To ensure fair competition, the CMI will be transformed into a technical processing platform accessible to all payment institutions, with transparent and non-discriminatory pricing conditions. The shareholder banks, for their part, will take charge of the transferred contracts, while guaranteeing the continuity of acquisition services.

Behavioral Commitments: Ensuring Competitive Compliance

Behavioral commitments include the establishment of a competition law compliance program. The CMI and the banks are also committed to preserving the autonomy of their subsidiaries in the acquisition sector, thus allowing the latter to operate independently both legally and economically. In order to limit cross-promotion practices, banks will be able to promote acquiring activity in their branches but will leave merchants free to choose their service provider.

In terms of pricingthe parties undertake to respect the ceiling on interchange fees set by Bank Al-Maghrib in September 2024. This cap aims to reduce the fees imposed on merchants for each card payment, thereby enabling more competitive pricing, which could further stimulate the adoption of electronic payments.

Monitoring and implementation of commitments

To guarantee the proper execution of these commitments, a joint monitoring commission was created between the Competition Council and Bank Al-Maghrib, with a half-yearly report on the progress of the actions undertaken. Implementation will be spread over a transitional period, giving market players the time necessary to adapt to the new standards while maintaining continuity of services.