How do you open a business bank account in Morocco in 2026?

A commercial company is a legal entity separate from its partners. It has its own assets, which justifies a bank account opened in its name:

• Accounting traceability (Law 9-88, CGNC): every entry must be backed by a supporting document
• Tax compliance: expenses paid in cash of at least 5,000 MAD incl. VAT per day and per supplier are only 50% deductible (Art. 11-II CGI); collecting cash for a transaction of at least 20,000 MAD exposes the company to a 6% fine (Art. 193 CGI)
• Tax and social security online payments (SIMPL, DAMANCOM) and enforceability of payments against third parties
• Access to financing: loans, documentary credits, Tamwilcom guarantees

Law No. 103-12 on credit institutions and similar bodies governs the licensing and supervision of banks, financing companies, participative banks and payment institutions. Bank Al-Maghrib (BAM) carries out prudential supervision; the licence is granted by the Wali of Bank Al-Maghrib. Only these institutions may hold a resident business account.

Banks are subject to the due diligence obligations of Law 43-05 on combating money laundering, as amended by Law 12-18 (2021):

• Identification of the client, its partners and its directors
• Knowledge of the business (KYC), of the origin of funds and risk profile, with ongoing due diligence on the relationship
• Suspicious transaction report to the ANRF (Autorité Nationale du Renseignement Financier, the national financial intelligence authority)

With Charikaty, the articles of association and the declarations are prepared and signed electronically during formation, you receive your RC extract and your tax identifiers, and we put together the complete file to submit to the bank of your choice.

1. Choice of institution: bank licensed by BAM, according to fees, online services and international offering
2. Preparing the file: the documents above, compliant and up to date
3. Account opening interview: KYC and presentation of the business
4. Internal validation: AML-CFT compliance check
5. Activation: assignment of the RIB (bank account details, IBAN format for international use), means of payment and online banking
6. Sending the RIB to the DGI (SIMPL space, online payments and VAT refunds) and to the CNSS (DAMANCOM)

Time frame: from a few days to two weeks after filing a complete file, longer in the event of enhanced due diligence (foreign partners, group structures). Cost: account maintenance, card and online banking fees vary by institution. Non-residents and MRE: a director abroad can have the account opened by a resident representative holding a legalized power of attorney (and apostilled or legalized by the consulate depending on the country); the other procedures are presented in our guide to setting up a company in Morocco as a non-resident.

Before registration, the bank may open a blocked incorporation account on presentation of the negative certificate and the draft articles of association:

• SARL and SARL AU: deposit mandatory only if the capital exceeds 100,000 MAD (Art. 51 of Law 5-96 as amended by Law 21-19); below that, no blocked deposit is required and contributions are paid into the company's account after its registration
• SA: deposit mandatory (Law 17-95)
• SAS: freely set capital (Law 5-96 as amended and supplemented by Law 19-20); terms set by the articles of association

The minimum amounts and the paying-up rules for each form are detailed in our guide on the minimum capital by type of company.

The bank issues a blocking certificate (attestation de blocage) attached to the registration file (see how to deposit the share capital in Morocco); the release of the funds takes place on presentation of the Commercial Register extract (see share capital blocked at the bank). Non-resident partners are well advised to pay their contributions in foreign currency in order to benefit from the transfer guarantee provided for by the IGOC.

For transactions with other countries, the applicable regime is that of the Office des Changes and the General Instruction on Foreign Exchange Operations (Instruction Générale des Opérations de Change, IGOC), updated every year (2026 version in force since 1 January 2026). Exporters can open a foreign currency account or a convertible dirham account funded by a portion of their receipts; other companies have annual allowances (dotations) (business travel, e-commerce allowance) calculated on the tax paid. Details are given in our guide on the convertible dirham account.

Foreign neobanks (for example Wise, Revolut, N26) do not hold a Bank Al-Maghrib licence allowing them to open a resident business account in Morocco. The official channel for international receipts and payments remains the Moroccan domiciliary bank (banque domiciliataire), in accordance with the IGOC (see how to pay a foreign supplier from Morocco).

Bank statements, account agreements and related documents are kept for 10 years (Art. 211 CGI; Art. 22 of Law 9-88), on paper or electronic media guaranteeing their integrity and evidential value.

To open your company's account, here is what you need: a registered company and a complete KYC file (articles of association, RC extract, IF, ICE and professional tax certificates, proof of registered office, directors' documents). With Charikaty, a private Moroccan legal-tech platform, you complete the entire formation of the company online, simply and quickly. We set up your company 100% online (OMPIC negative certificate, electronically signed articles of association, registration in the Commercial Register, DGI identifiers and CNSS affiliation), then we prepare the KYC file needed to open your business account with a bank licensed by Bank Al-Maghrib. Charikaty does not open bank accounts and has no partner bank: you submit this file to the licensed bank of your choice. Discover our online SARL formation service.

More than 250 companies have already been set up with Charikaty.