The BCT's 2025 Banking Supervision Report highlights a rapidly growing but still loss-making sector. The new circular issued in September 2026 aims to put the industry back on track towards digital payments.
The figures are impressive, but the overall picture remains mixed. According to the Central Bank of Tunisia (BCT) Annual Report on Banking Supervision for 2025, payment institutions processed nearly 8.7 million transactions, worth a total of TND 3.775 billion, last year.
In 2024, they recorded 4.2 million transactions worth TND 1.632 billion, compared with one million transactions worth TND 495 million in 2023. Over two years, transaction values increased more than sevenfold.
A Young and Expanding Sector
The sector remains relatively small. At the end of 2025, the five operational institutions (Viamobile, Zitouna Payment, Enda Tao, Wafacash Tunisia and Payvago) had combined total assets of TND 87.8 million.
Six institutions were licensed at that time, with First Pay having commenced operations in January 2025. A seventh institution, Walletii by Ooredoo, received its licence in 2026 and officially began operations on March 2.
Their combined capital amounts to TND 82 million, of which 68% is held by financial sector institutions and 31% by non-financial private companies.
Their geographical coverage is also expanding, with 55 directly operated branches and 3,624 authorised agents, bringing the total number of service points to 3,679, compared with 3,514 in 2024 and 2,442 in 2023.
These agents are primarily concentrated in Greater Tunis, which accounts for 29% of the network, significantly ahead of Sfax and Sousse, with 6% each.
Microcredit and International Remittances Lead the Way
An analysis of their activities reveals two dominant use cases.
In terms of transaction volume, payments account for 58% of all operations, including:
- 41% for microcredit instalment repayments.
- 11% for bill payments.
- 6% for mobile phone top-ups.
Money transfers account for 40% of transactions, including 30% in incoming international transfers and 10% in domestic transfers.
In terms of transaction value, however, the picture is reversed. Money transfers account for 66% of total amounts, with international incoming transfers alone representing 60%.
Payments account for 24% of total transaction value, primarily microcredit repayments (22%), while bill payments represent just 1.9%. Cash-in and cash-out operations account for 10%.
In other words, these institutions currently operate primarily as service points for microcredit repayments and diaspora remittances, rather than as genuine everyday digital payment solutions.
113,000 Accounts, but Only 11.3% Are Active
This is the figure that puts the sector's growth into perspective.
Payment institutions had 113,739 payment accounts at the end of 2025, compared with 78,930 a year earlier. However, only 12,843 accounts were active, representing just 11.3% of the total, compared with 23,830 active accounts in 2024.
According to the BCT, this rate "reflects the limited use of payment accounts and digital payment instruments."
Among these accounts, 84% are Level 2 accounts, 12% are Level 1 accounts and 4% are Level 3 accounts.
Persistent Financial Losses
From a financial perspective, the consolidated net payment income reached TND 20 million in 2025, an increase of more than TND 10 million compared with 2024.
However, this level of revenue remains insufficient to cover substantial operating expenses. Consequently, losses reached TND 17.3 million, almost unchanged from 2024.
Against this backdrop, on September 25, 2026, the BCT issued Circular No. 2026-10, repealing and replacing Circular No. 2018-16.
The new regulation aims to reduce reliance on cash and promote financial inclusion, while ensuring controlled sector development based on transaction security and user protection.
Refocusing the Business Model
According to the BCT, this regulatory overhaul should help payment institutions ensure their long-term sustainability by gradually refocusing their business models on their core purpose: providing innovative, accessible and secure digital payment services.
The stated objectives are to strengthen the payment ecosystem, accelerate financial inclusion and progressively reduce the use of cash.
The challenge is clear: transform transaction growth, largely driven by microcredit repayments and money transfers, into genuine everyday adoption of digital payments.
The question remains whether the new transaction limits and the introduction of merchant accounts will be sufficient to reactivate dormant accounts and bring these institutions back to profitability.
