According to latest monthly data published last Thursday (4 November) by the Central Bank of Libya (CBL) covering the period from 1 January to 30 November 2025, e-banking showed significant growth in Libya.
This growth comes with the background of the (relatively) newly installed CBL Governor Naji Issa’s attempt to implement monetary reforms. These include encouraging the use of e-payments by making it mandatory for all private and public revenue collectors to use e-payments, reducing the e-payments commission charged by banks and Switch companies, recalling currency (the old ‘‘triglia / Red Mullet’’ coloured LD 5 and 20 notes) by 30 September to fight the hoarding of cash at home, launching Islamic-Sharia compliant Certificates of Deposits to reduce cash in circulation, fighting speculation on the foreign exchange market by issuing licences for official FX bureaux, and defending the value of the Libyan dinar to reduce inflation, prices and the cost of living.
The latest e-banking figures show:
- The number of points of sale (POS) machines exceeded 150,000, with an increase of 8,570 points during November alone.
- The use of bank cards also increased with 194 million POS transactions and a total transaction volume of 26.2 billion dinars in November.
- There was also significant ATMs activity, recording 19.4 million transactions, with the total value of withdrawals reaching 10.1 billion dinars in November.
- The number of Instant Transfer users reached 6.6 million, and the number of transactions rose to 8.9 million in November.
- Total transactions through the “LYPAY” and “ONEPAY” services reached 55.9 billion dinars in November, marking a record increase of 12.7 billion dinars compared to October.
- Banking Applications (APPS) recorded more than 137 million transactions during November, with a total transaction value of 236 billion dinars.
- Electronic wallets also recorded a remarkable growth, with 183,000 electronic wallets registered and 547,000 transactions executed during the month of November alone. The volume of electronic wallet trading reached 79.6 million dinars, recording growth during this year.
- November recorded the highest value of electronic payment transactions, reaching 43.8 billion dinars during a single month. Libya has witnessed electronic transactions worth 328 billion dinars since the beginning of 2025, which is considered a historic achievement in this sector.
While the withdrawal of old denominations by the end of September prior to preparing or introducing newly printed notes has exacerbated the continuing cash crisis and depressed the market, it has forced the increased use of e-banking and e-payments.
However, since there are specific sectors that are not linked to the banking sector and the e-banking flow of money, the crisis has simply depressed demand and commerce. If, as promised, the CBL does replace the missing cash soon, this may be a temporary blip in trade, but if it continues for months, it could collapse the Libyan market.
