How the Chari group supports the digitisation of payment for Moroccan merchants

Digitising a shop's payments is not just a matter of installing a way to accept cards. It means removing three very concrete obstacles — equipment, trust and cash flow — without breaking what already works at the counter. The Chari group approaches the subject through the merchant rather than through the technology: it starts from the app the merchant already uses to order stock, digitises the credit they extend to their customers, gives them a till and, with ChariPay, the ability to collect payments by card or in cash at an agency into a payment account where the money is available instantly. All of it rests on Chari Money, the group's payment institution, licensed by Bank Al-Maghrib. Here is the method, step by step.

Digitising payment is not just about accepting cards

For a merchant, “going digital” covers several quite different actions: accepting a card at the counter, getting paid remotely, keeping a record of their sales, and paying their suppliers and bills without cash. Each one comes with its own difficulty, and tackling them all as a single block often amounts to tackling none of them.

The group's approach is to break the problem down: one tool per action, which the merchant adopts when they need it, in the order that suits them. That is also why the group does not promise an “end of cash”: our article on cash and digital payment explains why the two continue to live side by side.

Starting from where the merchant already is

The first condition for successful digitisation is trust, and trust cannot be decreed. The group has a rare foothold: the Chari app, through which retailers order their stock and which already includes integrated financial services. The group publishes an order of magnitude for this foothold: more than 25,000 merchants connected to the Chari platform.

Starting from there changes everything. The merchant does not have to get to know a stranger: they extend their use of a tool they already know, with a partner who already delivers to their shop. The group's other brands come afterwards, when the need arises.

Three concrete obstacles, and the group's answer

Equipment: collecting payments without dedicated hardware

Many small shops have neither a payment terminal nor a website. That is no obstacle to getting paid remotely: with ChariPay, a payment link — an amount and a description — is shared by WhatsApp, by email, as a QR code or as a printable PDF poster, and the customer pays on a page hosted by ChariPay. When the business grows and needs a proper till, Lacaisse turns an iPad into a cash register, with sales and stock tracking and integration with payment terminals.

Trust: security and a clear framework

Paying online assumes that both the customer and the merchant feel protected. At ChariPay, card payments go through 3-D Secure authentication: the cardholder confirms with their bank, which protects the merchant against most unpaid charges and disputes. ChariPay's article on 3-D Secure and success rates explains how to prevent this security from costing sales.

The platform is PCI DSS Level 1 certified, a certification renewed every year, and the customer enters their card details on a hosted page: the merchant never sees a card number. Finally, the framework is easy to read: ChariPay is a Moroccan payment platform, a PSP operated by Chari Money, a payment institution licensed by Bank Al-Maghrib.

Cash flow: money available straight away

A neighbourhood merchant pays their suppliers quickly, often from one day to the next. A payment method that ties up their takings for days on end holds no interest for them. With ChariPay, as soon as a payment succeeds — a card authenticated with 3-D Secure or a reference paid in cash at an agency — the amount is available in the merchant's payment account and usable right away for a transfer or a bill.

This payment account is held by Chari Money; ChariPay is not a bank. It complements the merchant's bank; it does not replace it, and the payout to the bank remains a separate operation, automatic every night or on demand.

Selling beyond the neighbourhood

Digitising payment also opens a door: selling to customers who never walk past the shop. Orders come in by phone, through social media or via a website, and the payment has to follow the conversation. ChariPay's guide to online payment in Morocco compares the ways of accepting a remote payment, from the payment link to the hosted checkout.

Many merchants who are starting out online first look for a well-known international solution. ChariPay's overview of Stripe in Morocco explains what applies to a business established in Morocco and what the workarounds involve.

The role of the regulatory framework

The digitisation of payment does not happen in a vacuum. Receiving a customer's money and passing it on to a merchant is a regulated activity: law No. 103-12 reserves it, subject to the exceptions it provides for, to licensed institutions. The market itself has changed: card acquiring, centralised for a long time, has opened up to new players. Our analysis of the opening of the card acquiring market in Morocco goes over the official decisions and their timetable.

For the group, this requirement is a foundation: Chari Money holds the licence, operates ChariPay and offers its fintech infrastructure to partners as a white-label service, subject to the approval of Bank Al-Maghrib.

Measuring the progress made

How can you tell whether digitisation is moving forward? We do not publish a national average, and we advise against comparing yourself with figures that cannot be verified. The right indicators are the merchant's own:

1. The share of their sales paid by means other than cash, month after month.
2. The number of remote orders paid before delivery.
3. The time spent reconciling the payments they collect with their sales.
4. The amount of customer credit tracked in a tool rather than on paper.

On the ChariPay side, the portal shows the funnel of a link or a session — how many people opened the page, how many entered their card, how many went all the way through — which helps pinpoint where payments are being lost. On the credit side, Karny makes visible what customers owe.

Frequently asked questions

Where should a small merchant start when digitising their payments?

With the action that costs them the most today. To get paid remotely without any hardware, a ChariPay payment link is enough. To keep track of sales at the counter, a till such as Lacaisse does the job. For the credit they extend to customers, there is Karny. Each tool can be adopted on its own, with no obligation to use the group's other brands.

Do you need a payment terminal to accept cards?

Not to get paid remotely. With ChariPay, a payment link is shared by WhatsApp, by email or as a QR code, and the customer pays on a page hosted by ChariPay, by card with 3-D Secure. For a physical point of sale that already has the equipment, Lacaisse integrates with payment terminals.

Is digital payment safe for the merchant?

At ChariPay, card payments go through 3-D Secure authentication, the platform is PCI DSS Level 1 certified, a certification renewed every year, and the merchant never sees a card number. ChariPay is operated by Chari Money, a payment institution licensed by Bank Al-Maghrib, which also holds the merchant's payment account.

When is the money from a payment available?

As soon as a payment succeeds, the amount is available instantly in the merchant's ChariPay payment account and usable right away for a transfer or a bill. The payout to their bank remains a separate operation: automatic every night once a settlement account is configured, or on demand.

Does the Chari group replace the merchant's bank?

No. ChariPay is not a bank: the payment account is held by Chari Money, a payment institution licensed by Bank Al-Maghrib. It complements the merchant's bank; it does not replace it. The merchant keeps their own bank account, into which they pay out their takings whenever they wish.