Algeria’s central bank has authorised telecom operator Djezzy to establish a payment services provider, opening the door for the company to offer regulated digital payment services alongside traditional banks.
The decision was revealed by the Bank of Algeria on September 23, 2026. Djezzy’s payment arm, Djezzy Payment Services, has been given 12 months to apply for the final licence required to begin operating.
The approval does not make Djezzy a bank. Instead, it allows the telecom operator to enter Algeria’s regulated payments market under the country’s new framework for payment service providers (PSPs).
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The framework was introduced under Algeria’s 2023 Monetary and Banking Law. It allows certain non-bank companies to participate in payment services under the supervision of the Bank of Algeria.
Djezzy’s entry follows a wider move across African markets to allow telecom companies and other non-bank businesses to provide financial services. In Nigeria, the Central Bank of Nigeria licensed MTN and Airtel to operate Payment Service Banks, allowing them to provide services such as deposits, transfers and payments without operating as conventional commercial banks.
Kenya has gone further with Safaricom’s M-Pesa, which has grown from a mobile money service into a broad financial services platform under the supervision of the Central Bank of Kenya.
For Algeria, the Djezzy approval could expand the number of companies competing in digital payments and give consumers more options for accessing financial services through mobile networks. The move also gives the central bank a framework for supervising payment services offered by companies outside the traditional banking sector.
Last updated: September 23, 2026
