Mobile Money Issuers — Lesotho

The Lesotho category mapped to e-money issuance.

The « Mobile Money Issuers » category of the Central Bank of Lesotho's WordPress Business Directory register (« List of Licensed Financial Institutions »). Mapped to EMONEY_ISSUE per the Payment Systems (Issuers of Electronic Payments Instruments) Regulations, 2017 — an issuer of electronic payment instruments issuing e-money (reg 16 core capital M 500,000; the CBL keeps a register of all licensed issuers, reg 12). Name-keyed (no licence numbers/dates render on the list view, despite the page title). CEO/phone/address ride each fact's note (the register's own fields). ICP: Mukuru → grp:mukuru is on the FX/MT register, not this one; VCL Financial Services (Vodacom M-Pesa) and Sasai Econet (EcoCash) are HELD — the register prints neither « Vodacom » nor « EcoCash », so the brand-split link is not asserted (ADR-057).

Maintained: this official source is re-checked on a weekly schedule — last checked 2026-08-04 · changed 2026-08-04.

Licensed providers

5 entities

#	Provider	Status (as reported)	Source	Source date
1	Chaperone Ltd	licensed	Central Bank of Lesotho	not dated
2	Lesotho Postbank	licensed	Central Bank of Lesotho	not dated
3	Sasai Econet Financial Services (PTY) Ltd	licensed	Central Bank of Lesotho	not dated
4	Smartel Money Ltd	licensed	Central Bank of Lesotho	not dated
5	VCL Financial Services (PTY) Ltd	licensed	Central Bank of Lesotho	not dated

Reading the tables

not dated: — the official source publishes no date of its own. We show our own last-checked date instead of inventing one for the regulator.

Licence requirements

What it takes to hold this licence, as stated in the cited official instruments. Capital and fees are shown in the currency the statute itself uses.

Requirement	As published	Source	Source date
Minimum capital	M 500,000 (five hundred thousand Maloti / LSL) core capital, to be held at the time of licensing and at all times (reg 16, Schedule 2). Verbatim “Electronic Payment Instrument Issuer M 500,000 … hold a core capital as set out in Schedule 2”	Payment Systems (Issuers of Electronic Payments Instruments) Regulations, 2017 (LN No. 30 of 2017) — reg 7 (application/form), reg 13 (validity/fees), reg 16 + Schedule 2 (core capital), Schedule 3 (fees), Schedule 4 (trust account)	2017-03-31
Local presence / incorporation	A licensed issuer must be a company — a body corporate incorporated or registered under the Lesotho Companies Act. Verbatim “incorporated or registered in accordance with the Companies Act 2011 or the Companies Act 1967”	Payment Systems (Issuers of Electronic Payments Instruments) Regulations, 2017 (LN No. 30 of 2017) — reg 7 (application/form), reg 13 (validity/fees), reg 16 + Schedule 2 (core capital), Schedule 3 (fees), Schedule 4 (trust account)	2017-03-31
Timeline	Licence validity: A licence is granted for a period of one year, renewable, subject to the licensing fee in Schedule 3 (reg 13(1)). Verbatim “A license shall be granted for a period of one year and shall be subject to the licensing fee set out in Schedule 3.”	Payment Systems (Issuers of Electronic Payments Instruments) Regulations, 2017 (LN No. 30 of 2017) — reg 7 (application/form), reg 13 (validity/fees), reg 16 + Schedule 2 (core capital), Schedule 3 (fees), Schedule 4 (trust account)	2017-03-31
Local ownership	No such requirement: The Regulations impose no local-shareholding or nationality cap on an issuer of electronic payment instruments.	Payment Systems (Issuers of Electronic Payments Instruments) Regulations, 2017 (LN No. 30 of 2017) — reg 7 (application/form), reg 13 (validity/fees), reg 16 + Schedule 2 (core capital), Schedule 3 (fees), Schedule 4 (trust account)	2017-03-31
Fees	Registration fee M500; Licence fee M1000; Renewal fee M1000 (Schedule 3). Verbatim “Registration Fee License Fee License Renewal Fee Electronic Payment M500 M1000 M1000 Instrument Issuer”	Payment Systems (Issuers of Electronic Payments Instruments) Regulations, 2017 (LN No. 30 of 2017) — reg 7 (application/form), reg 13 (validity/fees), reg 16 + Schedule 2 (core capital), Schedule 3 (fees), Schedule 4 (trust account)	2017-03-31
Ongoing obligations	A value has been located but not yet verified, so we don't publish it here.	—	—

Requirements as published in the cited instruments — not legal or compliance advice. 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.

The equivalent in other markets

Categories mapped to the same normalized activity — fintech:EMONEY_ISSUE: