How do people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo pay online?
Mobile money is the main electronic channel. The Banque Centrale du Congo (BCC) reported that registered mobile money accounts grew 13% in 2024, from 46 million to 52 million, of which 17 million were active. The agent network reached 1,012,056 registered agents, about half of them active, with the largest numbers in Kinshasa, Nord-Kivu and Haut-Katanga. The market counted 23,289 merchants able to accept electronic payments, 86% of them active in the previous 30 days, and more than half of those (12,947) were in Kinshasa.
Three wallets share the market. Data from the telecoms regulator ARPTC, published in April 2026 and reported by Bankable, show M-Pesa with 15.4 million active subscribers in 2025, Airtel Money with 11.1 million and Orange Money with 7.7 million. By transactions, M-Pesa’s average share slipped from 46% in 2024 to 43.4% in 2025, while Airtel Money rose from 37.5% to 40.8%. The BCC lists Vodacash (the M-Pesa issuer), Airtel Money RDC, Orange Money RDC and Afrimobile Money RDC as licensed electronic money institutions.
Online, M-Pesa offers open APIs for collecting payments from customers, paying out to customers and moving funds between M-Pesa and bank accounts. Vodacom presents these as the way to take payment for goods sold through an online shop, an app or a point of sale. Businesses register as M-Pesa merchants and receive a merchant number that customers pay to.
The economy runs largely in US dollars. In 2024, 96.6% of bank credit was in foreign currency, according to the BCC. Shoppers and merchants work in both CDF and USD, so a checkout needs to handle both.
What rules shape online payments in the Democratic Republic of the Congo?
VAT is 16%. A reduced rate of 1% applies to listed essential goods and 0% to exports. A non-resident with no permanent establishment that invoices a DRC resident must appoint a VAT representative based in the country; if it does not, the DRC customer becomes liable for the VAT under a reverse charge, according to PwC.
Card terminals must run in francs. In June 2024 the BCC required all payment terminals to be configured in national currency only, to encourage use of the franc. Within eight months 3,492 terminals had been switched, and payments through them passed CDF 51.6 billion by the end of 2024. The BCC also published Instruction No. 58 on interoperability of card payment systems, which widened participation in the national card switch.
Cash in dollars is being phased out. On 9 April 2026 the BCC announced a ban on cash payments in foreign currencies from 9 April 2027, as reported by Bankable. Dollar payments remain allowed, but must go through bank transfers, payment cards or electronic wallets.
Personal data falls under the Digital Code. Law No. 23/010 of 13 March 2023 establishing the Digital Code covers personal data, including billing and payment data. DLA Piper notes that several implementing decrees have not yet been issued. Transfers of personal data to another country are allowed only where that country offers protection equal to or better than the Digital Code, and some processing, including transfers to a third country, falls under an authorisation regime.
How would Omno route payments in the Democratic Republic of the Congo?
A merchant would connect once and set routing rules per method, currency and customer group. In the DRC:
- M-Pesa pay-ins would go to a provider connected to an M-Pesa merchant account, with the order pending until the customer approves on their phone.
- Airtel Money and Orange Money pay-ins can sit next to M-Pesa in the hosted checkout, each routed to a provider that holds that wallet, so customers pay from the wallet they already use.
- Currency rules can send USD and CDF payments to the providers that support each currency, with amount rules per currency.
- 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.
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 three wallets. M-Pesa and Airtel Money each carry about four in ten mobile money transactions, and Orange Money is growing fastest, so a checkout with only one leaves many customers out.
Plan for two currencies. Prices, settlement and refunds may run in USD or CDF, and the 2027 ban on foreign currency cash will push more dollar payments onto wallets and cards.
Plan for VAT representation. A foreign seller invoicing DRC customers needs a local VAT representative, or the customer bears the VAT under the reverse charge.
Plan for data transfer checks. Payment and billing data count as personal data under the Digital Code, so moving them abroad needs an adequate destination and, in some cases, prior authorisation.