TUNIS, May 6, 2026 — Tunisia’s Central Bank (BCT) has taken a decisive step toward consolidating its digital payments landscape with the official launch of TUNPAY, a unified national label for all mobile payment services in the country.
The initiative was formalized through Note N°2026-132 of May 5, 2026, signed by BCT Governor Fethi Zouheir Nouri, and marks a significant milestone in the country’s broader digital financial strategy.
Developed in Partnership with SMT
TUNPAY was established by the BCT in concertation with Société Monétique Tunisie (SMT), the body responsible for managing Tunisia’s national mobile payment system. The goal is to unify the visual identity of mobile payments, make acceptance points easier to identify, and strengthen user confidence.
A Regulatory Obligation, Not Just a Brand
Crucially, TUNPAY is more than a logo. According to banking law expert Mohamed Nekhili, speaking on RTCI on May 8, 2026, the adoption of TUNPAY constitutes a regulatory obligation for all actors in the mobile payment space, accompanied by technical requirements each institution must meet.
All mobile wallet issuers — banks, the Office National des Postes, and licensed payment institutions — are required to adopt TUNPAY as their unified national visual identity and deploy it across their entire networks.
Addressing a Fragmented Market
TUNPAY was designed to address a central problem in the local market: the fragmentation of payment solutions and the lack of clear reference points for users.
A Market Primed for Growth
The timing is significant. According to BCT data, the number of mobile transactions grew by 81% in 2025, reaching 8.4 million operations. In value, these transactions represented 1.769 billion dinars (approximately $616 million USD) over the year. Despite this momentum, Tunisia’s market still lags behind some African peers where contactless payments and NFC technologies are advancing rapidly.
TUNPAY is positioned as a key lever to accelerate nationwide adoption, with the BCT calling on all institutions to actively promote it as a symbol of trust, simplicity, and reliability.
