BizAlgeria

Accepting card payments on an Algerian store: CIB and SATIM, Edahabia and Chargily explained

How an Algerian online store can accept CIB and Edahabia cards: the SATIM route step by step, what Chargily Pay says it offers and charges, and the legal point we could not settle.

By Published Rules checked on 4 min read

A hand holding a dark green card towards a small card terminal on a white counter, with a gold lamp and a plant in the background

Most Algerian stores still live on cash on delivery, and that is legal (law 18-05 allows payment “remotely or on delivery”). But sooner or later a customer asks to pay by card, you want to cut refused parcels with a prepayment, or you sell something where nobody wants to hand over cash. Then you must choose a route. This article lays out the routes from the official pages, with their gaps, as of 29 October 2026.

What the law says first

Law 18-05 (art. 27) says electronic payment goes through dedicated platforms set up and operated exclusively by banks approved by the Bank of Algeria and by Algérie Poste. The seller’s site must connect to the platform through a connection secured by electronic certification (art. 28), and the platforms are supervised by the Bank of Algeria (art. 29). Read the whole text in law 18-05: the checklist for online sellers.

Route 1: CIB card through SATIM

SATIM runs the interbank card system and certifies web merchants. From its pages:

  1. Your bank starts the process. Online payment by CIB card needs an authorisation issued by the GIE Monétique, and the procedure is started by the acquiring bank that signs the internet sales contract with you.
  2. You file on cibweb.dz. Create an account, fill in the integration request and attach your commercial register.
  3. Answer in under 24 hours on whether the request is acceptable (GIE Monétique).
  4. Technical tests and certification by SATIM. Your site must meet the technical requirements.
  5. Authorisation to go live from the GIE Monétique.

SATIM publishes a list of certified web merchants: shops, pharmacies, theatres, housing agencies and others. SATIM’s pages do not state any price: ask your bank for its terms and fees.

Route 2: Edahabia (Algérie Poste)

Edahabia is the Algérie Poste card. The Algérie Poste home page shows the card and a corporate space to manage electronic payments as a merchant. We did not read the merchant terms, fees or steps, so ask an Algérie Poste business desk.

Route 3: Chargily Pay

Chargily Pay is a payment platform that says it lets a store accept CIB and Edahabia cards through one integration, with payment links (no website needed), a free API and plugins. Visa and Mastercard are shown as “coming soon”. Its Algeria pricing page shows:

PlanCommissionMin / max per transactionFree withdrawals a month
Starter (new accounts)0% for 300 transactions or 300,000 DA of volumenot shownnot shown in our reading
Comfort1.5%15 DA / 1,500 DA1
Supreme3%30 DA / 3,000 DA2
Elite4.5%45 DA / 4,500 DA4

On top: withdrawals above the free number cost 1.5% (minimum 150 DA), and refunds cost 2% (20 to 2,000 DA). The page shows higher rates on the higher plans, which come with more support and features: read it again before you choose, and ask what changes between plans. A developer page of Chargily describes a different introductory offer (0% in the first month), so check which applies to you.

To go live, you start in test mode, then ask Chargily to verify your user account and then your application. Until the application is verified, your checkout pages show a warning.

The point we could not settle

Article 27 reserves electronic payment platforms to approved banks and Algérie Poste. Chargily is neither. Does a gateway like it, working for third-party stores, fit that rule? The texts we read do not say. SATIM’s list shows Chargily as a certified web merchant in the “mobile top-up sales” category, which proves a certification for that business, not for its gateway. Before building your checkout around any intermediary, ask it in writing which bank or Algérie Poste service settles the money, and ask your bank or the Ministry of Commerce if you are unsure.

Which one to pick

  • Established company with a commercial register and a bank that follows you: the SATIM route is the one the law describes. Allow time for the bank and the certification.
  • Starting small, want to test card demand: an intermediary is the option some stores use, but you take on the unsettled legal point above, so read its fees against your margin with the COD profit calculator.
  • Keep cash on delivery. A card option does not replace it; it can reduce refused parcels if you ask for prepayment on risky orders. See real cost per delivered parcel and reducing COD returns.
  • Platform choice matters: Shopify Payments and WooPayments are not available to Algerian businesses, so a card route will be separate: see YouCan vs Shopify vs WooCommerce.

What we could not confirm

  • Whether a gateway that is not a bank or Algérie Poste can serve third-party merchants under article 27.
  • Whether an auto-entrepreneur or a seller without a commercial register can use the SATIM route (the form asks for the register).
  • Edahabia merchant terms and fees, and SATIM or bank fees.
  • Which of Chargily’s two introductory offers applies, and whether Visa and Mastercard are live.

Confirm with SATIM and your bank before you commit.

Sources and verification

6 points checked against the texts, 3 still to confirm.

Sources consulted

Show the point-by-point detail
  • Verified Law 18-05: payment for online sales is made remotely or on delivery by authorised means; electronic payment goes through dedicated platforms set up and operated exclusively by banks approved by the Bank of Algeria and Algérie Poste, connected to payment terminals through the public telecom operator’s network (art. 27); the website’s connection to a payment platform must be secured by electronic certification (art. 28); the platforms are supervised by the Bank of Algeria (art. 29).
  • Verified SATIM route: online payment by CIB card needs an authorisation issued by the GIE Monétique; the procedure is started by the acquiring bank that signs the internet sales contract with the merchant; SATIM then certifies the site technically if it meets the technical requirements.
  • Verified SATIM integration steps: create an account on cibweb.dz; fill in the integration request form and attach your commercial register; the GIE Monétique processes the request and rules on acceptability in under 24 hours; technical integration tests and certification with SATIM; the GIE Monétique then issues an authorisation to go live. SATIM publishes a list of certified web merchants (for example shops of clothing, pharmacies, theatres, housing agencies and mobile top-up sellers).
  • Verified Chargily Pay: accepts CIB and Edahabia cards, with Visa and Mastercard shown as coming soon; offers payment links, a free API and plugins; says there is no subscription and no activation cost.
  • Verified Chargily Pay prices on its Algeria business page: a Starter plan at 0% commission free for new accounts, covering 300 transactions or 300,000 DA of volume; then Comfort at 1.5% (minimum 15 DA, maximum 1,500 DA), Supreme at 3% (30 to 3,000 DA), Elite at 4.5% (45 to 4,500 DA); each with different support, balance-holding time and number of free withdrawals; withdrawals above the free number cost 1.5% (minimum 150 DA); refunds cost 2% (20 to 2,000 DA). The page shows higher rates on the higher plans: read the page again before choosing.
  • Verified Chargily Pay accounts start in test mode; to take real payments, the user account and then the application must each be verified by Chargily’s team on request; an unverified application shows a warning on checkout pages.
  • To verify A developer documentation page of Chargily describes a different introductory offer (0% fees during the first month). We rely on the pricing page above.
  • To verify Whether Chargily Pay, which is neither a bank approved by the Bank of Algeria nor Algérie Poste, falls under the exclusivity of article 27 of law 18-05 for platforms it operates for third-party merchants: not settled by the texts we read. SATIM’s list shows Chargily as a certified web merchant for mobile top-up sales, which is not the same thing as certifying its gateway.
  • To verify Algérie Poste: the home page shows an Edahabia card and a space to manage electronic payments as a merchant; the merchant terms, fees and steps were not read. Whether a seller without a commercial register can use the SATIM route (the form asks for the register): not verified.

Corrections log

  • : First published.

General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules can change: check the date above.

Confirm with the official source

Contact details as published by the bodies themselves, collected on 28 October 2026. Before you act, call or write to confirm the point that concerns you, and keep the answer in writing.