Attijariwafa Bank Joins China's CIPS Payment System
Attijariwafa Bank has joined China's CIPS payment system for yuan transactions, aiming to facilitate trade and financial exchanges between Morocco and China.
Moroccan banking group Attijariwafa Bank has announced it has joined CIPS (Cross-Border Interbank Payment System), China's clearing and settlement infrastructure for cross-border payments in yuan (renminbi), in an announcement made on 15 October 2026. The move is part of the bank's effort to strengthen its support for trade and financial exchanges between Morocco and China.
Through this membership, the bank's corporate and institutional clients in Morocco will be able to access direct yuan payment services, which the bank describes as faster and more efficient than traditional channels. The technical infrastructure used complies with the international ISO 20022 standard for financial messaging.
What the bank says
Adil Hajji, director of Attijariwafa Bank's International Banking Group, said: "This membership strengthens our ability to serve trade and investment flows between Morocco and China." According to the bank, the step helps secure and speed up the settlement of commercial operations in yuan, reduces the complexity and delays of traditional correspondent banking channels, and helps Moroccan companies diversify the currencies they use for settlement.
What is the CIPS system?
The People's Bank of China launched CIPS in October 2015 to support the internationalization of the yuan and facilitate the settlement of cross-border transactions in the currency. It functions similarly to the global SWIFT system, but is dedicated to yuan transactions. The banking group did not specify an official launch date for the service for its clients, nor the fees or expected transaction volumes.
Attijariwafa Bank's CIPS membership follows its earlier participation in the Swift Payments Scheme, part of an effort to speed up and simplify cross-border banking transactions. The move carries added weight amid growing economic partnerships between Morocco and China, allowing Moroccan companies working with Chinese partners to settle transactions directly without additional intermediaries, potentially reducing costs and processing times.