Fintech & payments regulation in Cameroon (2026)

Following the Ministry of Finance's May 2025 communiqué, Cameroon began actively suspending unlicensed fintech operators and instructed all public bodies, authorized PSPs, and economic operators to immediately terminate partnerships with non-compliant firms. Marks Cameroon's transition from informal tolerance of provisional authorisations to active regulatory enforcement across mobile money, digital lending, crowdfunding, and payment processing.

Flutterwave became one of the first pan-African fintechs to receive full BEAC-approved payment services authorisation in Cameroon via a technical partnership with Ecobank, covering mobile money, card transactions, bank transfers, and online billing. The licence signals that the national licensing track established by Decision No. 00000337/MINFI is now operational for major international players.

A communiqué issued on 5 May 2025 gave all fintech companies operating under provisional approvals or outdated authorisations three months to obtain formal licences or cease operations entirely. Requirements include disclosures of ownership structures, governance frameworks, data-protection safeguards, and capital adequacy, the directive cited rising fraud, money laundering, and illicit cross-border flows.

Cameroon's 2025 Finance Law raised the Tax on Electronic Money Transfers (TTA) to 1% for deposits and withdrawals related to gambling/entertainment, and introduced a flat 4 FCFA per-transaction fee on all mobile money services. The measure drew criticism from financial-inclusion advocates, as the base 0.2% TTA already depressed transaction volumes since its introduction in 2022.

Decision No. 00000337/MINFI established national-level conditions for the authorisation and cessation of electronic payment service activities in Cameroon, filling gaps left by the regional CEMAC Regulation 04/18. It broadened the definition of payment services, created a structured national licensing pathway with capital and governance requirements, and set the stage for the 2025 enforcement drive.

MTN Cameroon's fintech subsidiary Mobile Money Corporation (MMC) received COBAC approval and Ministry of Finance notification for an independent PSP licence, ending its reliance on Afriland First Bank's licence. The licence covers deposits, transfers, international remittances, bill payments, and merchant settlements for over 5 million monthly active users, the second major PSP licence issued in Cameroon after Orange Money.

The Ministry of Finance notified Orange Cameroon on 5 July 2022 that Orange Money Cameroon SA had obtained COBAC approval as the country's first independent payment institution under the 2018 CEMAC framework, authorising it to operate without being anchored to a credit institution. The milestone demonstrated that the 2018 regional regulation was finally producing licensed non-bank digital payment operators in the Cameroon market.

Law No. 2021/026 of 16 December 2021 introduced a proportional 0.2% Tax on Electronic Money Transfers (TTA) on mobile wallet transfers and withdrawals, creating a combined 0.4% round-trip tax burden effective 1 January 2022; bank transfers, merchant payments, and tax-related transactions were exempted. The IMF warned in March 2022 that the sector-specific levy risked hindering financial inclusion among the unbanked population.

BEAC issued Instruction No. 008/GR/2019 setting conditions and modalities for using electronic payment instruments outside the CEMAC zone, establishing foreign-exchange controls over mobile and card-based cross-border digital flows applicable to all six CEMAC member states. The instruction operationalised foreign-currency supervision requirements introduced alongside Regulation 04/18 and is a key compliance reference for international fintech operators in Cameroon.

COBAC adopted Regulation No. 04/18/CEMAC/UMAC/COBAC on 21 December 2018 (in force 1 January 2019), establishing dedicated Payment Institution (PI) and Electronic Money Institution (EMI) licence categories separate from banking licences, for the first time allowing non-bank entities to independently issue e-money without a mandatory technical partnership with a credit institution. This remains the foundational CEMAC regulatory instrument governing digital payments and fintech licensing across Cameroon and its five CEMAC neighbours.

BEAC enacted Regulation No. 01/11/CEMAC/UMAC/CM, the CEMAC 'Electronic Money Policy', creating the first regional legal framework for electronic money issuance, requiring BEAC authorisation for all e-money activity and assigning joint oversight to BEAC and COBAC. The regulation established the prudential, AML/CFT, and liquidity standards that governed mobile money's early expansion in Cameroon and underpinned all subsequent reforms through the 2018 overhaul.