Mobile money: who regulates it

A regulated service, not an informal one

Sending or receiving money by phone in Cameroon is not an unregulated free-for-all. Since CEMAC's payment-services regulation of 21 December 2018, an operator must hold a payment-institution licence before offering this service to the public.

Who grants the licence

The Central African Banking Commission (COBAC) — the same authority that supervises banks — grants and can withdraw payment-institution licences. Orange Money Cameroun (OMCM) received its licence on 5 May 2022. MTN Mobile Money Cameroun, run by Mobile Money Corporation, received its licence on 16 May 2023. Both operators therefore answer to the same supervisor as banks do, even though neither one is a bank.

What this means in practice

A licensed payment institution must follow the rules CEMAC sets for this activity, under COBAC's ongoing supervision. An operator offering money-transfer services without this licence would be acting outside the legal framework, however popular its app might be.

Neither a bank nor an EMF

A mobile-money operator is neither a bank nor a microfinance institution. CEMAC's regulation created a separate category, the payment institution, specifically for this kind of activity. A mobile-phone operator can apply for this status without becoming a bank, as long as it follows the rules that come with the category and gets COBAC's approval.

Same supervisor, a different licence

A payment-institution licence is not the same as a bank licence, even though COBAC grants and supervises both. That is why Orange Money and MTN Mobile Money appear on Cameroon's list of licensed payment institutions rather than on the list of licensed banks, despite each handling money for millions of customers every day.

Check before you use one

Before trusting a mobile-money service with your money, it is reasonable to check that it holds a payment-institution licence, as Orange Money and MTN Mobile Money both do. If a transaction goes wrong, COBAC, as the supervising authority, remains a possible recourse after the operator itself.