Visa says its “Stay Cashless” programme will help thousands of small Moroccan businesses accept digital payments as the country prepares for more tourists and major sports events.
The plan follows a record Africa Cup of Nations in 2025 and comes as Morocco gets ready for the 2030 World Cup.
“The Africa Cup of Nations 2025 in Morocco broke records for attendance and transactions. This confirms the importance of accelerating the digitalisation of payments, especially for small merchants who will have to manage even larger flows approaching the 2030 World Cup,” said Sami Romdhane, Visa’s country manager for Morocco.
The programme was launched in February 2026 with the Ministry of Tourism. It aims to make digital payments common across hotels, restaurants, transport and markets.
“The Stay Cashless programme aims to modernise payment acceptance by making electronic payments possible everywhere. Our objective is simple: enable small merchants to accept card or mobile payments quickly, securely and at low cost,” he said.
Visa plans a wide rollout of simple tools such as contactless payments and Tap-to-Phone technology, which turns a smartphone into a payment terminal.
“This starts with the massive rollout of lightweight acceptance solutions such as contactless payment and Tap to Phone, which transforms a simple smartphone into a payment terminal. There is no longer a need to invest in costly equipment.”
Visa is also working with banks, fintech firms and local partners to equip businesses, especially in tourist areas and busy places linked to major events.
“We are also supporting banks, fintechs and local partners to accelerate merchant equipment, particularly in tourist areas and high-traffic zones linked to major sporting events.”
Visa says it has invested more than $12bn over the past five years to improve network security and reliability.
“The objective is to guarantee fast and secure transactions, even during very high activity peaks such as those expected for the 2030 World Cup.”
He said Morocco already has very low fraud levels.
“Security remains at the heart of the system. Fraud rates in Morocco are among the lowest in the world thanks to the early adoption of protocols such as 3D Secure and the continuous improvement of our technologies.”
“By design, Visa does not store sensitive personal data during transactions. Payment information is encrypted according to the most advanced standards.”
The plan is part of Morocco’s wider tourism and digital strategy to reduce cash use and bring more small businesses into the formal economy.
Morocco welcomed 19.8 million tourists in 2025 and earned a record 138bn dirhams. In the first two months of 2026, travel income reached 21.38bn dirhams.
More than 60% of card use in 2024 was still cash withdrawals. The programme aims to shift spending toward direct payments to businesses, helped by lower card fees introduced in 2025.
“With Stay Cashless, we want to enable thousands of Moroccan small merchants to join the digital economy and be ready to welcome the millions of visitors expected in 2030.”
