Home services & Solutions payment-and-card Tanzania Keeps Card Payments Fee Free as It Aims to Boost Digital Transactions

Tanzania Keeps Card Payments Fee Free as It Aims to Boost Digital Transactions

Payment And Card

Digital Transaction, Payment Fee, Payment & Card, POS Terminal

CIO Bulletin
2025-01-10

To encourage digital transactions, Tanzania’s central bank still forces POS terminals not to charge players on cards used in transactions.

The Bank of Tanzania has declared that card payments, whether by debit, credit, or prepaid cards, will exclusively remain free of any additions at points of sale terminals. Governor Emmanuel Tutuba said such would normally create an informal environment for digital and electronic financial transactions to enhance a cash-lite economy. The Bank of Tanzania (BoT) has also warned merchants against charging customers extra fees for card payments, saying punishment applies to that.

In addition, Tutuba said digital payments afford security, transparency, and convenience. The central bank further urged anyone to report immediately any extra charge on POS terminals. While card adoption remains low in payments, Tanzania has over 55 million mobile money accounts as of now according to TCRA. This, among other reasons, is expected to spur the use of cards in payments and complement already rapid growth in digital finance.

More than that, this initiative cuts across the general economic strategy that the country is looking at to improve financial access, which would channel sustainable development in several key sectors.