Visa fintech day in Rabat highlights Morocco’s financial innovation drive

The third edition of the Visa Fintech Day took place on Tuesday at the Mohammed VI Tower in Rabat, bringing together major players from Morocco’s financial ecosystem to discuss innovation, digital payments, and financial inclusion.

Organised by Visa in partnership with the Morocco Fintech Center (MFC), the Digital Development Agency (ADD), and Technopark, the event gathered representatives from government, regulators, banks, fintechs, investors, and technology companies. This edition placed special emphasis on artificial intelligence and its potential to transform financial services.

The proceedings were opened by Amal El Fallah Seghrouchni, Minister Delegate for Digital Transition and Administrative Reform, who addressed the role of AI in accelerating an inclusive digital transformation. Several exchanges also focused on the impact of digitalisation on the national economy, including a discussion between Sami Romdhane, Country Manager of Visa in Morocco, and Ryad Mezzour, Minister of Industry and Trade.

Speakers highlighted the growing contribution of digital technologies to modernising Morocco’s economic fabric, particularly for small and medium enterprises. Digital payments, data analytics, and AI-based tools are now seen as key drivers of competitiveness and development.

Morocco bets on AI to accelerate financial transformation

A highlight of this edition was the presentation of a white paper on Morocco’s fintech ecosystem. Produced jointly by Visa and the Morocco Fintech Center with input from several institutions, the document aims to serve as a reference for investors, industry professionals, and policymakers.

The report offers several recommendations to speed up financial innovation in Morocco. These include developing regulatory sandboxes to test new services in a secure environment, standardising technological integrations between market players, strengthening startup financing mechanisms, and making greater use of artificial intelligence and data analysis to promote financial inclusion.

The event also showcased the Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator programme. Launched as part of the group’s commitment to invest one billion dollars in Africa by 2027, this initiative supports fintech startups across the continent through an intensive twelve-week programme.

Startups, banks, and regulators: a maturing collaboration

Since its launch, the accelerator has backed 104 African fintechs across six cohorts. Their combined valuation exceeds 1.4 billion dollars. Ten Moroccan startups have already benefited from the programme, gaining access to strategic mentoring, Visa’s technological infrastructure, and funding opportunities.

During this third edition, two Moroccan startups from the latest cohort were highlighted. Both are developing solutions based on artificial intelligence and data analytics to address structural challenges in the financial sector.

For Sami Romdhane, this evolution reflects the growing maturity of the national ecosystem. In his view, Moroccan fintechs now favour collaboration with banks and regulators rather than a disruptive approach. Visa intends to support this dynamic by offering its technological infrastructure and global expertise to boost financial innovation and expand access to financial services in Morocco.