Moroccan retailers’ payments secured

A secure payment scheme for almost 19,000 retailers has been introduced by Imperial Tobacco’s Moroccan business to remove the need for cash payments.

Small shops selling tobacco whose owners do not have access to a bank account can now make use of the new Taâbia’ti card.

The Taâbia’ti card is the result of a partnership between Imperial’s Moroccan business, Société Marocaine des Tabacs (SMdT); the Attijariwafa Bank, the country’s largest bank; and e-commerce group CMI.

Retailers can go to their local banks and load money onto their cards so they can be used to order products from SMdT’s central distribution team, which means that SMdT customers no longer have to travel to regional distribution centers carrying large amounts of cash.

“The Taâbia’ti card is an important innovation that will help support small retail outlets,” said Paul Leggat, general manager, Morocco.

“This development reflects our commitment to modernize the supply and distribution of our products throughout the market.”