How do people in Malawi pay online?
Mobile money carries most digital payments. The Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) reported 19.9 million registered mobile money subscriptions at the end of 2025, up 23.3% in a year. The RBM warns that the figure includes wallets on churned or inactive SIM cards: about 8.9 million subscribers, 44.8% of the base, made a transaction in the last 30 days, and 11.7 million in the last 90 days. Mobile money handled 2.4 billion transactions worth K37.9 trillion in 2025.
Shopping is still a small part of it. Airtime top-ups made up 42.0% of mobile money transactions and cash-in and cash-out 33.1%, while merchant payments were 7.7%. The RBM called on providers to lower costs for small merchants and to promote digital payments over cash.
Two networks run the wallets. Airtel Money belongs to Airtel Malawi, which had 8.1 million subscribers at the end of 2024, and TNM Mpamba to TNM, which had about 5 million, according to Ecofin. Mpamba was launched in 2013 and can send money to Airtel customers and to linked bank accounts. Mobile money transfers between providers through the National Switch rose 213.1% to 46.6 million in 2025.
Banks serve a smaller, higher-value group. Internet banking had 355,507 subscribers and mobile banking 2.0 million at the end of 2025. The RBM counted 9,010 point-of-sale terminals and 15.6 million card payments at them in the year. Instant Funds Transfers through the National Switch reached 8.2 million, worth K9.2 trillion, at an average of about K1.1 million each. The World Bank’s Global Findex found that 50.4% of adults had an account at a financial institution or with a mobile money provider in 2024.
What rules shape online payments in Malawi?
Foreign digital sellers now charge VAT. The Value Added Tax (Amendment) Act 2026 took effect on 15 April 2026. A non-resident digital services provider, intermediary or electronic marketplace operator that supplies end users in Malawi must register for VAT whether or not its sales reach the MWK 50 million registration threshold, and Fonoa reports a rate of 17.5%. KPMG notes that a sale is sourced to Malawi when the customer is resident there, regardless of where the contract is made or paid, that these providers cannot deduct input VAT, and that the Act has no transitional rules.
Customer data has its own law. The Data Protection Act came into force on 3 June 2024, with the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) as the data protection authority. Controllers and processors of significant importance, such as those in Malawi handling data on more than 10,000 people there, must register. Transfers out of Malawi need an adequate legal regime in the receiving country or another basis, such as contractual clauses, binding corporate rules or the customer’s consent.
Payment law is being updated. The RBM is reviewing the Payment Systems Act 2016 and its regulations, and plans to phase out cheques once the Bills of Exchange Act is amended. It also reports that the Minister of Finance announced higher mobile money limits, with wallet balances rising from K1 million to K5 million and transaction values from K750,000 to K1 million.
How would Omno route payments in Malawi?
A merchant would connect once and set routing rules per method, currency and customer group. In Malawi:
- Airtel Money pay-ins would go to a provider with an Airtel Money connection in Malawi, with the order pending until the customer approves on the phone.
- TNM Mpamba can sit next to Airtel Money in the hosted checkout, routed to a provider that holds Mpamba, so customers on both networks can pay.
- 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.
- Amount rules could send larger baskets to cards or bank transfer, where average values are much higher than in mobile money.
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 two wallets. Airtel Money and TNM Mpamba each have millions of customers, and a checkout with only one turns away the other network.
Plan for low activity and small tickets. Fewer than half of registered wallets were active in a 30-day window in 2025, and the average mobile money transaction was about K15,586, so clear phone prompts and pending order states matter.
Plan for VAT from the first sale. Non-resident digital sellers register whatever their turnover, so records of each payment by customer location are needed from day one.
Plan for data rules. Check whether your volume of Malawian customers makes you a controller of significant importance, and document the basis for sending their data abroad.