Digital Payments & Fintech · Chad
Fintech & digital payments rules in Chad (2026)
Chad shaded by its digital payments & fintech status
As a CEMAC member, Chad applies a uniform, in-force regional licensing regime for payment institutions and electronic money rather than a separate national law. Regulation 04/18 and its COBAC implementing texts require any payment-service or e-money provider to be authorised before operating, with BEAC/COBAC issuing licences; Chad already hosts licensed providers such as Mobile Commerce Tchad S.A. Regional interoperability runs through GIMAC/GIMACPAY, while there is no dedicated open-banking mandate or specific BNPL regulation.
Key points
Payment, e-money and microfinance activities are supervised by BEAC (monetary authority granting agrément) and COBAC (banking commission overseeing prudential compliance). The regime is regional and applies uniformly across CEMAC, including Chad.
Regulation No. 04/18/CEMAC/UMAC/COBAC of 21 December 2018 governs payment services across CEMAC, repealing the earlier 2011 e-money regulation and articles 194-195 of Regulation 03/16. It covers payment instruments including cheques, transfers, direct debits, cards and electronic money (mobile money).
Payment institutions (établissements de paiement) must be joint-stock companies with a board and a minimum paid-in capital of XAF 500 million. Applications go to the monetary authority with a copy to COBAC, which checks prudential capacity before BEAC rules on the technical solution within three months. COBAC R-2019/01 and R-2019/02 set the licensing and prudential standards.
BEAC's 2022 payment-services report records licensed payment establishments operating regionally, including Mobile Commerce Tchad S.A.; mobile-money services in Chad have been offered via bank/operator partnerships (e.g., Airtel and Tigo/Moov).
The regional switch GIMAC (99.2% owned by BEAC) operates the GIMACPAY interoperability platform (launched 2020), connecting tens of millions of e-wallets and bank accounts for national and cross-border transfers across CEMAC, including Chad. BEAC also introduced a revocation right for erroneous mobile-money transfers from March 2024.
There is no dedicated open-banking framework or specific Buy-Now-Pay-Later regulation in CEMAC/Chad; such activity would fall under general payment-services, credit and consumer-protection rules. BEAC has flagged emerging issues (crypto-asset purchases via e-money, fintech consumer protection) but these remain under review rather than codified.
Chad - other topics
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