Samsung Pay Goes Live in Morocco on Mastercard Tokenisation Rails

Samsung Pay has launched in Morocco with Mastercard backing the rollout, opening the wallet to eligible Mastercard cardholders at banks taking part in the scheme.

Payments run on Mastercard Digital Enablement Service, or MDES, which swaps sensitive card details for a unique digital token during a transaction. The card number itself never travels with the payment. Samsung Pay adds authentication and risk-based safeguards on top of that token layer.

The launch draws on tokenisation work Mastercard has already built up in Morocco, and the company framed it as an extension of its collaboration with banks and technology firms on digital payments in the country.

For consumers, the practical change is simple: no plastic required. A compatible Samsung phone or watch handles the payment at any merchant that accepts supported contactless transactions. Banks that join can offer the wallet to their eligible cardholders, and merchants gain another way to get paid at the terminal.

Mohamed Benomar, Mastercard's country manager for North West Africa, said the company's ambition goes past introducing one more way to pay. The goal, he said, is digital payments that are faster, simpler and more secure.

Hongseok Lee, president of Samsung Electronics Maghreb Arab, said the company wants paying to feel as natural as picking up a smartphone or smartwatch.

The two companies will run a joint campaign in Morocco combining promotions with consumer education on paying through Samsung devices. Mastercard has set a target of tokenising 100% of online transactions by 2030, a benchmark that puts the Moroccan launch in a wider shift toward credentials that exist only as tokens.