What does it take to get a payment switching licence in Tanzania?
To hold a payment switching licence in Tanzania, you need the Switching Service Provider licence from Bank of Tanzania. Published timeline: As PSP: 30-day processing; 5-year validity; commence within 6 months. Full requirements — minimum capital, local presence, timeline, local ownership, fees and ongoing obligations — are set out below in each instrument's own words, with source and date; amounts are in the statute's own currency.
“Payment switching” here is the normalized activity: Own or operate payment switching, routing, clearing or interoperability infrastructure between payment service providers, issuers, acquirers and schemes.
Activity id (as used by the Afriset MCP): fintech:SWITCHING
Switching Service Provider
Bank of Tanzania| Requirement | As published | Source | Source date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum capital | Not officially published: The Payment Systems (Licensing and Approval) Regulations 2015 require documentary evidence of paid-up capital (reg 6(h)) but publish no numeric minimum-capital threshold for the switching/data-management category - the First Schedule sets licence fees only. | The Payment Systems (Licensing and Approval) Regulations, 2015 (GN under the NPS Act 2015; s.56) | not dated |
| Local presence / incorporation | As PSP: body corporate incorporated under the laws of Tanzania; primary data centre in Tanzania. Verbatim“A person eligible to operate a payment system shall be a body corporate incorporated under the laws of Tanzania … A payment system provider shall place its primary data center … in Tanzania” | The Payment Systems (Licensing and Approval) Regulations, 2015 (GN under the NPS Act 2015; s.56) | not dated |
| Timeline | As PSP: 30-day processing; 5-year validity; commence within 6 months. Verbatim“within thirty days following receipt of an application … either grant or reject … … remain valid for five years unless suspended or revoked” | The Payment Systems (Licensing and Approval) Regulations, 2015 (GN under the NPS Act 2015; s.56) | not dated |
| Local ownership | No such requirement: No local/citizen ownership %; non-Tanzanian senior management per Non-Citizen Act 2014. | The Payment Systems (Licensing and Approval) Regulations, 2015 (GN under the NPS Act 2015; s.56) | not dated |
| Fees | Licence Fee TZS 5,000,000; Renewal TZS 5,000,000 ("Payment system Data management"; "Inter-institutional payment systems" is also 5m/5m). Verbatim“Payment system Data management … Five Million / Five Million … Inter-institutional payment systems … Five Million / Five Million” | The Payment Systems (Licensing and Approval) Regulations, 2015 (GN under the NPS Act 2015; s.56) | not dated |
| Ongoing obligations | Same PSP regime: TISS net settlement, AML/CFT, risk management to BIS standards, 10-year records, primary data centre in TZ, BoT approval for cross-border/branches/mergers, renewal ≥6 months prior. Verbatim“keep them for a period of not less than ten years … shall not operate cross-border payment system services without a written approval … provide financial services in partnership with a bank or financial institution” | The Payment Systems (Licensing and Approval) Regulations, 2015 (GN under the NPS Act 2015; s.56) | not dated |
Requirements as published in the cited instruments — not legal or compliance advice. Capital and fees are shown in the currency the statute itself uses. Where a value is located but not yet verified, we show that it exists but don't publish the figure. Verify directly with the regulator.
Maintained: this official source is re-checked on a weekly schedule — last checked 2026-08-04 · unchanged since the previous check.
Who already holds this licence?
0 entities are on the Bank of Tanzania register under the Switching Service Provider category — view the register .
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