How do people in Sudan pay online?
Bank apps carry most digital payments. CGAP describes Bankak as the app of the Bank of Khartoum, Sudan’s largest retail bank, and the main channel for domestic transfers during the conflict. Other banks run their own apps, including Faisal Islamic Bank’s Fawry and Omdurman National Bank’s Ocash, according to OkayAfrica. A payment is a transfer from the customer’s bank account, made on their phone.
Cash shortages pushed people onto apps. When a new 1,000 pound banknote was issued in January 2025 and the old 500 and 1,000 pound notes were partly replaced, banks could not print enough new notes, and many traders and households turned to app transfers for daily spending. In Central Darfur in 2024, Radio Tamazuj reported that cash shortages forced residents onto apps such as Bankak, with commissions of up to 10% to swap digital balances for cash.
Reliability is the main weakness. Radio Dabanga reported in September 2026 that intermittent outages at Bankak and at Faisal Islamic Bank’s Fawry service had blocked transfers and payments, and that some traders refused to sell unless paid in cash. An IT consultant quoted in the report called for a national interoperable payment system, a national payment gateway and clear rules for handling outages.
Telecom mobile money is still small. CGAP notes that the largest operators launched mobile money before the conflict, but adoption and agent networks remained limited. MTN Group reported R47 million of digital and fintech revenue from Sudan in the six months to June 2026, out of R1,410 million in total revenue there.
What rules shape online payments in Sudan?
Electronic contracts are recognised. The Electronic Transactions Act, 2007, published by the Central Bank of Sudan, makes an electronic contract valid when offer and acceptance meet through exchanged data messages, gives legal effect to electronic signatures, and covers electronic means of payment, including payment cards.
Electronic money has a central infrastructure history. Until late 2020, mobile money services had to run on a central platform operated by the state-owned Electronic Banking Services (EBS), the only entity allowed to issue electronic money. Revised e-money regulations changed that, but CGAP notes that older and newer models still depend on EBS.
The central bank sets cash and transfer limits. In May 2024, Radio Tamazuj reported, the Central Bank of Sudan limited daily cash withdrawals from banks to SDG 3 million and cut the daily cash machine limit, while raising the limit for transfers through mobile applications to SDG 15 million to keep more payments inside the banking system.
Foreign exchange is tightly managed and volatile. The central bank publishes regulations and orders for foreign exchange operations, including a 2014 handbook, and its own published table of bank exchange rates was last dated 12 April 2023, when the Bank of Khartoum sold US dollars at SDG 602.48. OkayAfrica reported a rate of about 3,000 pounds per dollar by July 2025. MTN has treated Sudan as a hyperinflationary economy in its accounts since 2018.
How would Omno route payments in Sudan?
A merchant would connect once and set routing rules per method, currency and customer group. In Sudan:
- Bank app transfers would go through a provider that can collect Bankak and other bank app payments in SDG, with the order pending until the provider confirms the funds arrived.
- Wallet pay-ins can be added in the hosted checkout as providers connect operator mobile money services.
- Cascading would move a payment to the next provider in the rule when one is unavailable or rejects the request, which matters in a market with frequent outages.
- Amount rules can keep each order within the transfer limits that banks and the central bank set for app payments.
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 bank app transfers first. Bankak is the most used channel, and Fawry and Ocash reach customers of other banks.
Plan for outages. App and network failures have blocked transfers and payments at times, so orders need a pending state and a second route where providers allow it.
Plan for currency risk. The pound has lost most of its value against the dollar since 2023, so pricing and settlement need frequent review.
Plan for local advice on tax, data and foreign exchange rules before launch, as conditions change quickly.