How do people in Mozambique pay online?
Mobile money reaches far more people than banks. According to the latest Banco de Moçambique statistical report, as reported by Lusa, accounts at electronic money institutions rose from 19.9 million in 2024 to 24.6 million at the end of November 2025. Bank accounts grew from 6.2 million to 6.7 million over the same period, and the number of point-of-sale terminals fell from 35,470 to 33,191. More than 400,000 agents serve wallet customers.
Three wallets cover the market, one per mobile operator: M-Pesa from Vodacom, e-Mola from Movitel and mKesh from Tmcel. Customers use them for transfers and to pay for services. Vodacom reported 6.4 million financial services customers on M-Pesa in Mozambique at the end of March 2026, out of 11.6 million customers in total, and M-Pesa revenue grew 5.2% to MZN 4.3 billion in the year.
The wallets talk to each other. The Banco de Moçambique announced that M-Pesa, e-Mola and mKesh became interoperable through SIMOrede on 1 July 2022, so customers of one wallet can send money to customers of another.
Instant payments now link banks and wallets. The interbank company SIMO launched the national instant payment system on 2 March 2026 under Banco de Moçambique Notice 1/GB/2026. Electronic money institutions must join, alongside banks and payment service providers. Transfers are available 24 hours a day, and institutions may cap them at MZN 200,000 a day for individuals and MZN 500,000 for companies.
Cards are a smaller channel. Visa and Mastercard cards issued by Mozambican banks serve shoppers who have a bank account, and Google Pay is available for online and in-app payments.
What rules shape online payments in Mozambique?
VAT is 16%, with a 5% rate for some private health and education services. Under reverse charge, a VAT-registered Mozambican customer accounts for VAT on services from non-resident suppliers, including digital goods and services such as software, cloud services and streaming. From 1 January 2026 the customer must pay that VAT to the tax authority first and then claim it back. The standard VAT regime applies above MZN 2.5 million of turnover.
Digital platforms may need a licence. According to Afriwise, Decree 59/2023 of 27 October requires intermediary providers and digital platform operators offering services in Mozambique to be licensed, even without a local establishment. The Electronic Transactions Law, Law No. 3/2017 of 9 January, sets the framework for e-commerce.
There is no dedicated data protection law. DLA Piper notes that the Constitution protects privacy, the Electronic Transactions Law defines personal data and sets duties for those who process it, and there is no data protection authority. The law does not generally restrict transfers abroad, but the Constitution bars disclosure to third parties without the person’s prior consent.
How would Omno route payments in Mozambique?
A merchant would connect once and set routing rules per method, currency and customer group. In Mozambique:
- M-Pesa pay-ins would go to a provider with an M-Pesa connection in Mozambique, with the order pending until the customer approves on the phone.
- e-Mola and mKesh can be offered in the hosted checkout next to M-Pesa, each routed to a provider that holds that wallet.
- 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.
Webhooks would carry the final status of each payment, the record a back office should trust before shipping an order, and the routing-decision log would show which provider handled each payment and why.
What should merchants plan for?
Plan for M-Pesa first, then the other wallets. Each operator runs its own wallet, so a checkout with only one leaves out customers on the other networks.
Plan for approvals on the phone. Wallet payments wait for the customer to confirm, so orders need a pending state and webhook confirmation.
Plan for VAT on imported services. Business customers account for VAT on services from abroad and, from 2026, pay it before claiming it back, which affects their cash flow and their questions to suppliers.
Plan for licensing and consent. Check whether Decree 59/2023 applies to your platform, and collect clear consent before sharing customer data with third parties.