How do people in the Republic of the Congo pay online?
The Congo is a mobile money market with a busy payment system for its size. The BEAC, the central bank of the six CEMAC countries, reports that the Congo accounted for 22.76% of all payment transactions in the region in 2024, 893.15 million of them, second only to Cameroon. Mobile money drives that number: 9,498,877 accounts carried 459,499,959 transactions worth XAF 3,515.9 billion during the year.
Two operators run the wallets. MTN reports Congo-Brazzaville inside its Francophone Africa segment, where digital and fintech services brought in R499 million of revenue in the six months to June 2026, and MTN Congo promotes MoMo and merchant payments on its site. Airtel Congo sells Airtel Money alongside its network. On the mobile side, MTN is the larger operator: the regulator ARPCE counted 3.8 million regular MTN customers against 2 million for Airtel at the end of June 2025, as reported by EcoMatin. Ecofin, citing the BEAC’s 2025 to 2029 financial inclusion strategy, notes that two of the CEMAC’s licensed payment institutions in July 2023 were in the Congo, including Mobile Money Congo.
Cards play a small role. The Congo had 357,001 active bank cards and 453 cash machines in 2024, and card holders made 5,991,651 cash withdrawals worth XAF 655.7 billion. Card payments at merchants were far fewer: 314,368 payments worth XAF 23.8 billion through 216 terminals. Visa, GIMAC, UnionPay and Mastercard all issue cards in the region, with Visa the largest network.
What rules shape online payments in the Republic of the Congo?
VAT reaches foreign platforms. The rate is 18%, plus a 5% surtax calculated on the VAT, for a combined 18.9%. PwC notes that the VAT law covers services provided in the Congo through e-commerce platforms established in the Congo or abroad, and the commissions those platforms earn. An intangible service counts as provided in the Congo when the customer is established there. The 2025 Finance Law also set up a certified electronic invoicing system (SFEC) for VAT.
Customer data needs a matching level of protection abroad. Law No. 29-2019 of 10 October 2019 on personal data protection allows cross-border transfers only to a country with similar protection, and the data protection commission must be notified in advance. DLA Piper notes that the commission has not yet been set up.
Regional rules apply to payments. CEMAC Regulation No. 03/16/CEMAC/UMAC/CM requires a non-cash means of payment for any transaction above XAF 500,000. The payment services regulation of 21 December 2018 sets the conditions for payment service providers in the CEMAC and requires a payment institution to hold customer funds in a ring-fenced account with one or more banks. Under the CEMAC foreign exchange regulation, No. 02/18/CEMAC/UMAC/CM, settlements with other countries must go through credit institutions (Article 30), so cross-border settlement runs through banks.
How would Omno route payments in the Republic of the Congo?
A merchant would connect once and set routing rules per method, currency and customer group. In the Congo:
- MTN MoMo pay-ins would go to a provider that holds an MTN MoMo connection in XAF, with the order pending until the customer approves on their phone.
- Airtel Money pay-ins can be offered next to MoMo in the hosted checkout, routed to a provider with an Airtel Money connection.
- Card pay-ins can be routed by BIN, with cascading: if a provider is unavailable or rejects the request, the payment moves to the next provider in the rule until one accepts.
- Amount and customer group rules can send large orders, new customers or customers at a given verification level to the methods and providers the merchant chooses.
Webhooks would carry the final status of each payment, and the routing-decision log would show which provider handled each payment and why.
What should merchants plan for?
Plan for MTN MoMo first and Airtel Money second. MTN has the larger customer base, but a checkout without Airtel Money misses a large group of mobile customers.
Plan for VAT at 18.9%. Services sold to customers in the Congo through e-commerce platforms, including foreign ones, fall within the VAT law.
Plan for bank settlement. Cross-border settlement in the CEMAC runs through credit institutions, so payouts from local providers to an account abroad follow the exchange regulation.
Plan for data transfer notices. Moving customer data out of the Congo requires a destination with similar protection and an advance notice to the data protection commission once it exists.