Cash and digital payments in neighbourhood retail: making the two coexist
Why cash keeps its place at the counter, and how the Chari group makes it coexist with digital payments in neighbourhood shops.
In neighbourhood retail, the question is not whether to choose between cash and digital payments, but how to make the two work together. Cash remains the means of payment that everyone accepts and everyone understands; digital payments bring a record of every sale, the possibility of selling at a distance and money that moves without ever leaving the till. The Chari group is not trying to do away with one in favour of the other: its brands digitise informal credit, turn shops into financial service points and allow a business to collect cash without handling it. This article explains how, without unverifiable figures and without promises.
Why cash holds its ground at the counter
At the counter of a grocery shop, cash has real qualities. It is immediate: the sale is settled the moment the coins change hands. It is universal: the customer needs neither a card, nor a phone, nor a connection. It is easy to read: the shopkeeper can see the day's takings in the drawer. And it sits comfortably with trust-based credit, the tab that the shopkeeper keeps for regular customers and that they settle at the end of the week or the end of the month.
We will not quote a market share for cash: the figures that circulate on the subject can rarely be traced back to a source, and the experience of each shopkeeper says more than any national average. What is certain is that any approach that ignores these qualities fails at the counter. Digital payment must first provide a service that cash does not.
What digital payments bring to the shopkeeper
Digital payments do not replace these qualities; they add others. The first is the record: every payment carries a reference, a date and an amount, which makes bookkeeping and reconciliation simpler. The second is distance: a customer who orders by phone or on WhatsApp can pay before delivery, without the delivery rider having to carry change. The third is the circulation of money: a payment collected digitally can be used straight away to pay a supplier or a bill, without going through a deposit first.
For the shopkeeper, these advantages are only worth having if they demand no extra effort. That is the common thread running through the group's tools: start from the habits that already exist — noting down a tab, providing a service, sending a message — rather than imposing new ones.
Informal credit, the first data to digitise
Before payment even comes into it, there is credit. Karny, acquired by the group in 2021, digitises the shopkeeper's credit notebook: the shopkeeper records in it what each customer owes, sends reminders on WhatsApp and backs up the data in the cloud. The gesture stays the same — writing down a debt — but the data stops being fragile: a lost notebook no longer means losing track of what customers owe.
The group also uses these histories to build a merchant credit score. For a shopkeeper whose business runs mostly on cash, it is a way of making visible what was not visible before.
Neighbourhood agents: cash as a way in
For many people living in a neighbourhood, their first contact with a financial service comes through a shopkeeper they trust. That is the idea behind Charicash: a network of neighbourhood financial agents that allows grocers, booksellers or internet cafés to offer their customers the opening of a payment account, cash deposits and withdrawals, bill payments and top-ups. The agent is paid by commission and supported by the network.
These operations are not trivial: Law No. 103-12 lists cash deposits to and withdrawals from a payment account among payment services (article 16). We quote the text without interpreting it. It simply serves as a reminder that, behind a gesture at the counter, there is a regulatory framework, and a licensed institution that is accountable for it.
Collecting cash without handling cash
The reverse movement exists too: a business may want to be paid in cash by a customer who has no card, without having to keep a till for all that. That is what ChariPay makes possible: ChariPay is a Moroccan payment platform, a PSP operated by Chari Money, a payment institution licensed by Bank Al-Maghrib. ChariPay is the only payment gateway in Morocco that also collects cash at agencies.
The principle fits in a few lines. On the page of a single-use payment link, your customer chooses cash, receives a reference, pays it at an agency of the Chari network, and you are notified as soon as the network confirms the deposit. Cash payment at an agency always relies on a single-use link — one reference per deposit. The amount is then available instantly in the business's payment account. ChariPay's article on how to collect cash by reference sets out the whole journey, from the link to the deposit.
Two clarifications help to avoid misunderstandings. A reusable link, a poster or a counter QR code collect payments by card: cash always goes through a single-use link. And ChariPay is not a bank: your payment account is held by Chari Money. It complements your bank; it does not replace it. How this payment account in Morocco works — RIB, transfers, bills — is explained on charipay.ma.
| Situation at the counter or at a distance | What the group offers | Brand |
|---|---|---|
| The customer buys on credit and pays later | Digital credit notebook and reminders | Karny |
| A neighbour wants to deposit, withdraw or pay a bill | Neighbourhood financial agent | Charicash |
| A customer without a card wants to pay a business | Single-use payment link, cash at an agency | ChariPay |
| The shopkeeper tracks sales, whatever the payment method | iPad till and dashboard | Lacaisse |
The till that brings both worlds together
As the business grows, the question becomes one of tracking: how much has been sold, by what means, and what is left in stock? Lacaisse, the group's iPad till, tracks sales and stock, consolidates several outlets in a single dashboard and integrates with payment terminals. Cash and cards appear side by side: the shopkeeper runs the business without having to pick a side.
And to fill the shelves, the Chari app lets the shopkeeper order stock from the shop itself, with built-in financial services. The loop is closed: whatever is sold, in cash or otherwise, is restocked in the same place.
Coexistence, not substitution
It would be tempting to announce the end of cash. We will not do so. Neighbourhood retail lives on a relationship of trust, and cash is part of that relationship. Our approach is more modest and more useful: to give the shopkeeper the means to accept whatever customers prefer, to keep a record of what is sold and of who is given credit, and to keep money moving without detours. For the bigger picture, read our analysis of the digitalisation of payments among merchants.
Frequently asked questions
Will digital payments replace cash in shops?
We do not think so, and we publish no forecasts backed by figures. Cash remains immediate, universal and compatible with trust-based credit. The Chari group is betting on coexistence instead: digitising credit, bringing financial services closer to the neighbourhood and making it possible to collect cash without handling it, rather than imposing a single means of payment on everyone.
How can a customer pay a business in cash without going to a till?
With ChariPay, on the page of a single-use payment link: the customer chooses cash, receives a reference and pays it at an agency of the Chari network. The business is notified as soon as the network confirms the deposit, and the amount is then available instantly in its payment account, ready to be used.
What does a Charicash agent do?
A Charicash agent is a neighbourhood shopkeeper who offers customers financial services close to home: opening a payment account, depositing and withdrawing cash, paying bills and buying top-ups. The agent is paid by commission and is supported by the network, which trains the agent and provides ongoing backing.
Can a counter QR code be used to pay in cash?
No. A counter QR code, a poster or a reusable link collect payments by card. Cash payment at an agency always goes through a single-use payment link, with one reference per deposit, so that every deposit corresponds without any ambiguity to a payment that is expected.
What use is Karny to a shopkeeper who works mostly in cash?
Karny replaces the paper notebook: the shopkeeper records in it what each customer owes, sends reminders on WhatsApp and backs up the data in the cloud. Informal credit thus becomes reliable data, which the group also uses to build a merchant credit score.