Fintech & digital payments rules in Palestine (2026)

The Palestine Monetary Authority is the central monetary/supervisory authority; Decree-Law No. 41 of 2022 on National Payments regulates payment service providers and establishes the legal infrastructure for structured electronic settlement.

Since April 2020 the PMA has issued instructions to operate and provide electronic payment services covering e-wallets and prepaid cards, and has licensed several PSPs (e.g., PalPay's 'Mahfazti' e-wallet). New e-money regulations were developed with World Bank support.

The PMA operates the RTGS 'Buraq' system (live since 2010, multi-currency) and launched the instant-payment 'iBuraq' system in 2024, settling domestic payments between banks and e-wallets 24/7 with near-immediate (within ~10 seconds) crediting.

The national Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment system (E-SADAD) was awarded to MadfoatCom by the PMA in June 2022, and the PMA runs a regulatory sandbox to test innovative fintech solutions under supervision.

Decree-Law No. 4 of 2026 on the Reduction of Cash Use promotes digital payments as an alternative to cash, reinforcing the PMA-supervised electronic payments ecosystem; it has spurred lower merchant/interchange fees and additional licensed digital PSPs.

No distinct, published open-banking or buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) regulatory framework was identified; these areas appear to fall under general PMA payment/credit supervision rather than dedicated regimes as of 2026.