A Payment Service Provider (PSP) in Cameroon is a third-party company that allows businesses to accept multiple forms of electronic payment in Cameroon including credit cards, debit cards, and digital wallets through a single integrated platform. By acting as an intermediary between customers, merchants, and banks, PSPs manage the entire payment process, including authorization, security, and the settlement of funds. Well-known examples include Stripe, PayPal, and Square.
The key definitions as concerns the legal regime of payment service companies in Cameroon are as follows:
National Monetary Authority or Monetary Authority: The Minister in charge of currency and credit in Cameroon where the institution is located.
Central Bank or BEAC: The Bank of Central African States.
Beneficiary: The natural or legal person receiving the funds involved in a payment transaction in Cameroon.
Client: A natural or legal person in Cameroon who, under a contract with a payment service provider, uses a payment service.
Banking Commission or CEMAC: The Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa.
Bank Account: An account opened and maintained in the books by a credit or microfinance institution in Cameroon in the name of a natural or legal person for the purpose of carrying out banking or related operations as defined in the annex to the convention of January 17, 1992, or operations authorized for microfinance institutions.
Payment Account: An account held in the name of one or more customers in the books of a payment service provider in Cameroon.
Distributor or Sub-Distributor: Any natural or legal person in Cameroon offering payment services to their customers, in the name and on behalf of one or more approved payment service providers.
Funds: Fiat money (banknotes and coins) and electronic money.
Payment Instrument: Alternatively, or cumulatively, any personalized device or set of procedures that allows a customer to give a payment order in Cameroon.
Payment Order: An instruction from a payer or payee to a payment service provider in Cameroon ordering the execution of a payment transaction.
Payment Transaction: The action of paying, transferring, or withdrawing funds, regardless of any underlying obligation between the payer and the payee, ordered by the payer or payee in Cameroon.
Technical Partner: A legal entity that provides a payment service provider in Cameroon with the technical services, hardware, and software necessary for processing payment transactions;
Payer: A natural or legal person in Cameroon who orders or authorizes the execution of a payment transaction;
Payment Service Provider: An authorized institution in Cameroon that provides payment services as its regular business activity.
Payment Services: The issuance, provision or management of payment instruments or means, or the execution of payment orders, as defined by law.