Mauritius is emerging as a key cross-border payment hub, with fintech companies actively using the island nation as a base for navigating complex treasury and billing operations.
For digital payments provider Peach Payments, the shift is already translating into rapid growth.
In an interview with ITWeb Africa, group chief operating officer Sandeep Chagger said the company’s Mauritius business recorded transaction volume growth of more than 300% year-on-year between 2024 and 2025.
Merchant acquisition also rose by 42% over the same period, reflecting increasing demand from businesses seeking to centralise payment operations beyond a single domestic market.
Chagger said Peach Payments entered Mauritius nearly five years ago with the intention of building a broader pan-African payments business.
While South Africa remains the company’s largest market, its operations outside the country are growing steadily.
“The contribution from our non-South African entities has been growing steadily year on year, both from new merchant acquisition and increasing transaction volumes across the continent,” Chagger said.
“What is encouraging for us is not just the growth in volumes, but the diversification of revenue streams and merchant segments outside South Africa.”
Peach Payments currently operates directly in 11 African markets and, through acquiring and infrastructure partnerships, processes payments in an additional four countries, giving it operational coverage across 15 markets.
Its payment ecosystem includes local acquiring capabilities, alternative payment methods, mobile money integration and cross-border payment processing.
Unlike larger domestic payments markets such as Kenya or South Africa, Mauritius is increasingly being used as a financial and operational gateway for businesses with regional and international footprints.
“Mauritius is less about servicing one domestic economy and more about enabling cross-border and international business operations efficiently from a globally connected financial jurisdiction,” Chagger said.
According to Peach Payments, the country’s appeal lies in its stable regulatory environment, strong banking infrastructure and relatively efficient management of foreign exchange and cross-border fund flows.
For many multinational and global business firms, Mauritius is becoming a base for consolidating treasury, billing and payment operations while servicing customers across multiple African and international markets.
Peach Payments currently serves more than 150 companies through its Mauritius entity, ranging from small and medium-sized enterprises to multinational firms using the island as a regional operational hub.
The company said demand is also being driven by international merchants looking for easier access to fragmented African payments markets.
“We are seeing growing demand from global merchants looking for a single integration into Africa, rather than managing fragmented payment relationships market by market,” Chagger explained.
The travel and hospitality sector continues to account for the largest share of transaction volumes, underlining Mauritius’ strong tourism-driven economy. Hotels and travel platforms remain among the biggest adopters of digital payment services.
However, the merchant base is gradually diversifying, with sectors including retail, logistics and insurance increasingly digitising payment systems and expanding online operations.
Mauritius’ removal from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list has also helped strengthen international confidence in the jurisdiction.
“It has reinforced trust in the jurisdiction and supported smoother engagement with global partners, financial institutions and international businesses evaluating Mauritius as a base for operations,” said Chagger.
Over the next 12 to 18 months, Peach Payments plans to deepen platform integrations across the Mauritian market.
The company is integrating with major business platforms including Oracle, Shopify and WooCommerce to embed payment services more directly into merchant operations.
“The objective is to ensure payments are fully embedded into merchants’ operations, rather than businesses having fragmented systems and disconnected workflows,” Chagger said.
The company is also expanding its in-store and point-of-sale payment capabilities to support omnichannel commerce across both physical and digital retail environments.
In addition, Peach Payments is preparing to launch payout services in Mauritius, pending final regulatory approvals.
“We believe payouts will become an increasingly important part of the ecosystem as businesses look for more efficient ways to move funds across suppliers, partners, merchants and customers, both locally and across borders,” Chagger added.
Despite ongoing challenges linked to fragmented regulation and uneven banking infrastructure across Africa and the Indian Ocean region, the company said expansion efforts are being supported by Mauritian banking groups with operations across multiple African markets, helping improve regional connectivity and operational efficiency.
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