Payments, currency and mobile money: settling in Rwandan francs and when foreign currency may be used, collecting through banks, cards and mobile money, paying abroad, licensing payment service providers and e-money issuers under Law N° 061/2021 and Regulation N° 74/2023, safeguarding customer funds, cash declarations, virtual assets and the cost of financial transactions

The Rwandan franc as the currency of payment

Every payment decision in Rwanda starts with currency. Article 39(6) of Law N° 033/2026 of 24/07/2026 governing the National Bank of Rwanda provides that a monetary obligation or transaction in Rwanda 'is presumed to be expressed and settled in the Rwandan franc, unless otherwise provided for by other laws'. The previous central bank law also allowed settlement in another currency where 'lawfully agreed upon between the parties'; that wording has gone. The National Bank of Rwanda (BNR) Directive N° 4230/2025-00042 of 17/09/2025 describes the franc as 'the only legal tender', and Article 32 of Regulation N° 42/2022 of 13/04/2022 governing foreign exchange operations already prohibited pricing goods and services in foreign currencies.

Regulations N° 89/2025 of 23/05/2025, published in the Official Gazette on 30 May 2025, gave the rule teeth. 'Pricing in foreign currency' now covers displaying, quoting, advertising, requesting, invoicing and fixing contract prices in a foreign currency. Pricing without permission is fined RWF 5,000,000 for a first breach and RWF 10,000,000 for a repeat; transacting without permission is fined 50% of the amount for a first breach and 100% for a repeat; an unpaid fine is reported to the Credit Bureau after 15 days and accrues 1% a day. The sanctions also apply to banks, other licensed intermediaries and authorised dealers that price or transact in foreign currency with residents in breach of the rules, and Article 37 bis makes it mandatory to report unauthorised foreign exchange operations to the BNR. Enforcement is shared with the Rwanda Inspectorate, Competition and Consumer Protection Authority (RICA), the Rwanda National Police and local authorities.

Two routes make foreign currency lawful inside the country. First, new Article 20 bis permits payment in foreign currency for goods or services exported or imported, so an exporter may invoice its foreign buyer in dollars and an importer may pay its foreign supplier in euros. Second, the persons listed in Article 4 of Directive N° 4230/2025-00042 are deemed authorised to transact in foreign currency, among them tourism entities and travel agencies licensed by the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), Kigali International Financial Centre (KIFC) entities recommended by Rwanda Finance Limited, mining operators trading in minerals, aviation and cross-border transport providers, international schools, suppliers to diplomatic missions and expatriates authorised to work; anyone else may apply to the BNR. Even an authorised dealer may not refuse Rwandan francs or compel payment in foreign currency unless the parties agree, and a price shown in foreign currency must also show the franc equivalent at the BNR's daily average rate with no surcharge. The full rules, the application procedure and the fines table are in Foreign exchange rules.

Collecting money in Rwanda: banks, cards and mobile money

Rwanda's payment infrastructure is supervised by the BNR, which under Article 7 of Law N° 033/2026 oversees payment systems and sets clearing and settlement policy. The core systems are the automated transfer system (ATS) for large-value and interbank payments, the central securities depository (CSD), the retail clearing system known as RIPPS and the national retail switch, eKash; RSwitch Ltd, formerly SIMTEL, is a company in which the BNR holds an investment. Under Article 8 of Law N° 061/2021 of 14/10/2021 governing the payment system (the Payment System Law) the BNR may designate any clearing or settlement system that poses systemic risk, after which the operator needs prior approval to change its rules (Article 12), and Articles 39, 40 and 43 protect netting and the finality of settlement in designated systems.

Mobile money is the rail most customers use. The BNR's annual report for the 2024/25 financial year records mobile-money transfers of RWF 24,931 billion, up 56%, in 1,034 million transactions, and a rise of 219% in the volume of transactions through eKash. For a business selling to consumers, accepting mobile-money and card payments through a licensed acquirer or aggregator is therefore usually as important as having a bank account. Each sale must still be recorded with an electronic billing machine or other certified invoicing system for VAT purposes (VAT and electronic invoicing).

Businesses should choose collection partners with the licensing rules in mind. Under Article 27 of Regulation N° 74/2023 of 18/09/2023 governing payment services providers, a merchant acquirer or payment aggregator (category II) and a money remitter (category III) may not hold users' funds except funds in transit, and a category II provider must keep merchants' funds in a separate escrow account with a bank, restricted to transfers to the end beneficiary and covered by insurance or a bank guarantee from an institution outside its own group (Article 28). A merchant's money in the hands of a licensed aggregator is therefore ring-fenced from the aggregator's creditors, which is not the case if the merchant uses an unlicensed intermediary. Payments by cheque remain available, and Regulations N° 87/2024 of 19/12/2024 deal with bouncing cheques.

Paying abroad and receiving from abroad

Cross-border payments by residents must pass through authorised intermediaries, that is licensed banks and other licensed dealers, or the BNR (Article 20 of Regulation N° 42/2022). Import payments are not limited in amount but must be supported by documents, such as the final commercial invoice and the goods delivery note, and for payment after import also the customs bill of entry (Articles 14 to 17). Service fees, royalties, interest and dividends are paid against documents showing the source of funds (Article 24), and the payer must deduct withholding tax first, as explained in Repatriating profits and capital and Withholding taxes and tax treaties. Expatriate employees may send their net salaries abroad (Article 23).

Two tax rules now bite at the payment stage. Since Ministerial Order N° 004/26/10/TC of 29/04/2026, non-resident suppliers of digital services to Rwandan customers must register for VAT or appoint a representative, and where they have not, the financial institution processing the payment withholds the VAT and pays it by the 15th of the following month. And the excise law, Law N° 011/2025 of 27/05/2025, lists a 15% excise on the amount or commission charged on financial transactions; the law states no deferred start, but commentators cite guidance of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning applying it from 1 July 2027, so businesses should confirm with their bank how fees will be charged.

Inbound money is free of exchange control: foreign-currency accounts may be freely credited (Article 11 of Regulation N° 42/2022) and the capital account is liberalised for direct and portfolio investment (Article 25). Every transfer carries customer due diligence obligations for the banks involved. Under Regulations N° 002/FIC/2026 of 22/06/2026, wire transfers, payments and value transfers of RWF 1,000,000 or more carry full originator and beneficiary information requirements and trigger customer due diligence for occasional customers, and transfers at or above the reporting thresholds are reported to the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) within two working days (Anti-money-laundering and sanctions compliance). Cross-border money remittance is a licensed activity (category III), governed also by Regulation N° 64/2023 on money remittance services, and regional integration is moving: the East African Community approved a Cross-Border Payment System Masterplan in May 2025.

Licensing a payments or e-money business

Under Article 16 of the Payment System Law, any person offering payment services must hold a BNR licence for the type of service, and the BNR licenses both payment system operators and payment service providers (Article 6(2)). Licensed banks and authorised microfinance institutions are exempt (Article 17). A provider must have a permanent place of business or registered office in Rwanda with at least one person available to handle customer queries and complaints (Article 23), and it is an offence to pretend to be licensed or to solicit the public to use unlicensed payment services (Article 22). Interoperability arrangements are set by BNR regulation (Article 25), agents may be used under Article 29, and customer funds must be safeguarded (Article 46).

Regulation N° 74/2023 sets four categories (Article 7) and the minimum initial capital for each. The applicant must be a company incorporated under Rwandan company law with a permanent place of business or registered office in Rwanda, a chief executive or managing director who is a Rwandan citizen or resident, a three-year strategy and business plan with realistic projections, fit and proper shareholders, directors and managers, and procedures that keep client funds identifiable and separate from the provider's creditors (Article 15). Governance scales with the category: a category I provider needs a board of at least seven, at least four of them independent, four key senior managers (chief executive, chief financial officer, head of risk and compliance and head of information technology) and audit and risk committees; category II needs at least five directors, three of them independent; categories III and IV at least three directors, one independent (Articles 16 to 18). The chair and the chief executive may not be the same or related persons, and in category I a significant shareholder, meaning a holder of 5% or more, may not be chair, deputy chair or chief executive (Article 19). Directors and senior managers may not start work until the BNR has approved them (Article 29).

The procedure is fixed by the regulation. The application letter is addressed to the Governor with the information in Annex I; the BNR tells the applicant within seven working days if information is missing (Article 30) and, within 90 days of a complete application, investigates and responds, stating any conditions, with written reasons for a refusal (Article 31). Before the licence issues, the applicant deposits its initial capital, proves it with a bank statement and pays a non-refundable licence fee of RWF 5,000,000 (category I), RWF 3,000,000 (II), RWF 1,000,000 (III) or RWF 2,000,000 (IV) (Article 32). Each year a licensed provider pays an oversight fee of 0.5% of its previous year's gross income, falling to 0.05% on income above RWF 20,000,000,000, by the end of April (Article 33). Acquisitions of shareholdings in payment service providers and payment system operators are governed by Regulations N° 94/2026 of 11/05/2026, and digital lenders and other non-deposit-taking providers by Regulations N° 96/2026 of 07/07/2026.

E-money issuers are also governed by Regulation N° 54/2022 of 01/09/2022 governing the electronic money issuers. A category I provider and a small e-money issuer in category II must establish a trusteeship arrangement (Article 26 of Regulation N° 74/2023). The e-money regulation requires at least 100% of the e-money float to be held in liquid assets in trust accounts, topped up whenever the float exceeds them and reconciled daily; a non-deposit-taking issuer's trust funds held with any one institution may not exceed 20% of the total, any excess being placed with another deposit-taking institution (Article 25); the issuer's articles must state that e-money owed to customers is held in trust and will not be encumbered on insolvency; and interest on trust accounts and individual e-money accounts is prohibited unless the account is explicitly a savings account (Article 38). The Investment Code's 15% corporate income tax rate is available to licensed fintechs that obtain an RDB investment certificate (Investment incentives; FAQ 92).

Cash, and the anti-money-laundering rules on payments

Cash remains lawful and widely used, but it attracts reporting. A person entering, leaving or transiting Rwanda with cash or bearer negotiable instruments worth RWF 10,000,000 or more, or the equivalent in other currencies, must make a truthful declaration to the competent authority (Article 5 of Regulation N° 001/FIC/2023 of 26/06/2023 relating to the declaration of cross-border cash or bearer negotiable instruments). A false declaration or failure to declare allows officers to stop the courier and the cash, question the courier on the origin and intended use of the funds, and immediately impose an administrative fine of 5% of the cash or instruments, without prejudice to criminal sanctions (Article 7).

Inside Rwanda, reporting persons such as banks, payment service providers, real estate agents and dealers in precious metals report cash transactions of RWF 10,000,000 or more by occasional customers (RWF 3,000,000 in casinos and RWF 15,000,000 for dealers in precious metals and stones) and wire transfers of RWF 1,000,000 or more, adding together linked transactions (Article 41 of Regulations N° 002/FIC/2026). A business that routinely pays suppliers or receives customer payments in cash should expect questions from its bank, and should never split payments to stay below a threshold, which is itself a reportable red flag.

Virtual assets, digital currency and trading platforms

Crypto-assets are not money in Rwanda. Law N° 023/2026 of 25/05/2026 regulating virtual asset business, published on 28 May 2026, makes the Capital Market Authority (CMA) the regulator of virtual asset service providers (Article 2(bb)). A legal entity providing virtual asset services must be licensed; a foreign-incorporated provider must be registered and keep a local presence in Rwanda (Article 10). Article 13 provides a regulatory sandbox, with conditions to be set by the CMA and the BNR, for business models the law does not yet cover. The penalties are severe: a natural person who engages in a virtual asset business faces a fine of RWF 30,000,000 to RWF 50,000,000 and three to five years' imprisonment, or one of them (Article 33); a legal entity providing virtual asset services without a licence faces a fine of RWF 70,000,000 to RWF 100,000,000 (Article 34); and issuing virtual assets without approval carries RWF 120,000,000 to RWF 150,000,000 (Article 35).

The BNR published a proof-of-concept report on a central bank digital currency in February 2026, but no digital franc had been issued at 10 October 2026. Retail leveraged foreign-exchange trading platforms are governed separately by CMA regulations on leveraged foreign exchange trading published in February 2024. Neither changes the rule that domestic prices and settlements are in Rwandan francs, and an investor considering a stablecoin or crypto payment product should start with the CMA's licensing route and the BNR's payment licence, which may both be needed (E-commerce, fintech and AI).

Applying for a payment service provider licence, step by step

1. Choose the categoryMap the business model to category I to IV under Article 7 of Regulation N° 74/2023, bearing in mind that an e-money wallet above RWF 50,000 or float of RWF 1,000,000,000 for six months moves the issuer into category I.
2. Incorporate and staff the companyRegister a Rwandan company with RDB, appoint a chief executive who is a Rwandan citizen or resident, a resident director and the board and senior managers the category requires.
3. Prepare the applicationLetter to the Governor with the Annex I information, a three-year strategy and business plan, fit and proper files for shareholders, directors and managers, policies on safeguarding, outsourcing, AML and IT security.
4. Answer the completeness checkThe BNR flags missing information within seven working days; processing starts only when it confirms the file is complete.
5. Receive the decisionThe BNR responds within 90 days of a complete application, possibly with conditions; a refusal states its reasons and the applicant may resubmit.
6. Capitalise and payDeposit the initial capital (RWF 30,000,000 to RWF 300,000,000), present the bank statement and pay the licence fee (RWF 1,000,000 to RWF 5,000,000).
7. Go live and complySet up trust or escrow accounts, register with the FIC within 30 days of incorporation as a reporting person, appoint a compliance officer and pay the annual oversight fee by April.