Digital Payments & Fintech · Cape Verde
Fintech & digital payments rules in Cape Verde (2026)
Cape Verde shaded by its digital payments & fintech status
Cape Verde has a dedicated, in-force licensing regime for payment institutions and electronic money institutions, established by Legislative Decrees 8/2018 and 9/2018 (both of 28 November 2018) and operationalised by Banco de Cabo Verde Notice (Aviso) 6/2019. Banco de Cabo Verde is the authorising and supervisory authority for payment systems and these institutions. The framework is comparatively modern and Portuguese/EU-influenced, though it does not yet include a dedicated open-banking mandate or specific BNPL rules, and a broader fintech-regulation effort (a BCV sector survey) began in early 2025.
Key points
Banco de Cabo Verde (BCV) is the central bank, payment-system overseer and prudential supervisor of payment institutions and e-money institutions; its oversight powers (information-gathering, inspection, sanctions) derive from its Organic Law (arts. 19 and 21) and the Financial System Framework Law.
Decreto-Legislativo n.º 8/2018 (28 Nov 2018) sets the legal regime for providing payment services and for the issuance, distribution and redemption of electronic money in Cape Verde by legally authorised entities.
Decreto-Legislativo n.º 9/2018 (28 Nov 2018) governs access to and the activity of payment institutions and electronic money institutions, i.e. the licensing/authorisation regime itself.
BCV Aviso n.º 6/2019 regulates the authorisation procedure and tiered minimum share capital: roughly CVE 2,000,000 (transfer-only), CVE 5,000,000 (payment execution as intermediary) and CVE 10,000,000 (full payment services) for payment institutions, and CVE 20,000,000 for domestic electronic money institutions, plus own-funds and client-funds safeguarding requirements.
Domestic retail payments run largely on the interbank Vinti4 card/ATM/POS network operated by SISP (Sociedade Interbancária e Sistemas de Pagamentos), which BCV reports on in its periodic Payment System Reports; there is no separate dedicated open-banking statute yet.
Cape Verde amended the BCV Organic Law in 2025 (an IMF-supported reform strengthening BCV governance and independence, raising its capital), and BCV launched a fintech-sector survey in early 2025 to inform future regulation of digital financial services; Cabo Verde is at the research stage on a possible CBDC.
Cape Verde - other topics
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