How do people in Lesotho pay online?
Mobile money is the everyday channel. IMF Financial Access Survey data show 2.57 million registered and 1.30 million active mobile money accounts in Lesotho in 2024, and 112.7 million mobile money transactions in the year, up from 95.2 million in 2023. The World Bank’s Global Findex found that 61.6% of adults had an account at a financial institution or with a mobile money provider in 2024.
M-Pesa leads by a wide margin. Vodacom Lesotho, which marked 30 years in 2026 with about 1.21 million customers and an 85% share of the mobile market, says M-Pesa holds 88% of the mobile money sector. Since 2021 the wallet has been run by VCL Financial Services, a licensed company fully owned by Vodacom Lesotho, which then counted more than 3,000 merchants. By March 2025 Vodacom had opened M-Pesa to smartphone users on other networks, including Econet Telecom Lesotho, through its app. Today about 14,000 agents serve M-Pesa customers.
EcoCash is the second wallet. Econet Telecom Lesotho offers it for sending money, paying bills, buying airtime and buying goods at merchants, and a customer needs a valid national ID to register.
Cards serve banked shoppers. Visa and Mastercard cards from banks in Lesotho serve this group, and Google lists Lesotho for Google Pay in websites and apps. The South African rand is also used across the Common Monetary Area that Lesotho belongs to.
What rules shape online payments in Lesotho?
VAT now runs through e-invoicing. The Value Added Tax (E-Invoicing) Regulations, 2026, Legal Notice No. 25 of 2026, came into operation on 1 April 2026. Every VAT-registered vendor must use an electronic billing system accredited by Revenue Services Lesotho (RSL), register it and send transaction data to the central system, which RSL calls Lekuka. RSL describes VAT as a tax on goods and services supplied in and outside Lesotho, so a foreign seller should confirm its own position with RSL before selling.
The currency is tied to the rand. The Central Bank of Lesotho keeps a soft fixed exchange rate by pegging the loti to the South African rand, and aligns its policy rate with those in the Common Monetary Area. It oversees payment systems under the Payment Systems Act, 2014 and the Payment Systems Regulations 2017, and licenses payment system operators and service providers.
Customer data is protected by law. Lesotho has a Data Protection Act and an established Data Protection Commission. Transfers to other SADC states that have adopted SADC data protection rules need a shown necessity, and transfers elsewhere need an adequate level of protection in the receiving country.
How would Omno route payments in Lesotho?
A merchant would connect once and set routing rules per method, currency and customer group. In Lesotho:
- M-Pesa pay-ins would go to a provider with an M-Pesa merchant connection in Lesotho, with the order pending until the customer approves on the phone.
- EcoCash pay-ins would go to a provider that holds EcoCash, so Econet customers are not left out.
- Card pay-ins can be routed by BIN, with cascading to the next provider in the rule if one is unavailable or rejects the request.
- Currency rules could price in LSL or ZAR and send each currency to the providers that settle it.
Webhooks would report the final status of each payment, and the routing-decision log would show which provider handled it and why.
What should merchants plan for?
Plan for M-Pesa first. It holds most of the mobile money sector, and it is now open to smartphone users on other networks.
Plan for EcoCash as a second wallet. Econet customers who do not use the M-Pesa app would otherwise need a card.
Plan for e-invoicing. If you register for VAT in Lesotho, invoices must pass through an accredited billing system linked to RSL.
Plan for two currencies. The loti is pegged to the rand and both circulate, so decide which one the checkout shows and how each settles.