• Cape Town fintech Loop applied to the Bank of Algeria for a payment-processor licence, confirmed on 24 September.
• The filing is the first from a South African fintech since Algeria issued Instruction 06-2025 on digital finance in August.
• Approval is pending; Loop must meet capital and compliance rules before any pilot can launch, with a decision due around December.

Cape Town payments platform Loop is said to have submitted an application to the Bank of Algeria for a third-party payment-processor licence, the central bank’s payment-systems department confirmed to Weekend Argus on Thursday. The filing, stamped 24 September, is the first request received from a South African fintech since Algeria enacted Instruction 06-2025 in August.

Instruction 06-2025, published 17 August, sets capital, audit and consumer-protection rules for e-wallets and payment agents. The law gives the Bank of Algeria 45 working days to approve or refuse a complete file; no public docket is released while the review is under way.

Officials would not provide a reference number but verified that “Loop South Africa (Pty) Ltd” is on the current intake list. Weekend Argus has seen the acknowledgement email sent to Loop’s legal adviser on 24 September; the central bank’s letterhead and date match the department’s outgoing template.

Approval is not guaranteed. If the file is cleared, Loop must still deposit the minimum paid-up capital of 500 million dinars (US$3.7 million), open a local settlement account and pass a compliance on-site visit before any pilot can go live.

Loop, co-founded by Imtiyaaz Riley and Jamie Thurston Wyngaard, signed a cooperation memorandum with Algerian e-commerce marketplace VMS and logistics firm Diar Dzair on 17 September, during the Intra-African Trade Fair in Algiers. The memorandum is non-binding until replaced by definitive contracts; no monetary value was disclosed.

According to Loop’s audited management accounts, the firm has channelled R54 million (US$2.8 million) through its Chat-to-Pay, Tap-to-Pay and palm-biometric rails since 2022. The figure relates solely to South African transactions; no Algerian volume has been processed.

Algeria’s smartphone penetration stands at 70%, according to GSMA 2024. IMF data puts the median age at 28, while the World Bank’s Findex 2024 survey shows cash still accounts for 81% of retail transactions by volume. Those benchmarks are frequently cited by applicants to justify entry. The 4expecting time expires in December. Weekend Argus said it will publish the Bank of Algeria’s public notice once a decision is gazetted; until then, the “first SA fintech in Algeria” claim remains prospective, not accomplished.

Idriss Linge