1. Could you begin by introducing Peach Payments and its mission in transforming the payments landscape across Mauritius and the region?
We began our expansion into Mauritius around mid-2021. I joined then to establish Peach Payments in Mauritius. The objective was never to limit ourselves to Mauritius but to serve the broader Indian Ocean region, Madagascar, Seychelles, and parts of Africa.
In April 2025, we acquired Paydunya, a payment company in Francophone West Africa operating in six countries, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Benin, Togo, Burkina Faso, and Mali. This brought our presence to ten countries, including Eswatini.
For Mauritius, while our core business remains e-commerce payments, we are also expanding into physical instore payments (POS) and payout services. At present, we process payments for over 100 enterprise grade merchants and a larger number of SMEs..
Uways Kureeman: In Mauritius, our main focus is to make online payment processing easy for companies. We are connected to all local banks offering e-commerce acquiring and integrated with all major payment methods, including MAUCAS, part of the national payment switch by the Bank of Mauritius.
We also provide ready-to-use plugins for popular platforms like Wix, Woo-commerce, Magento, Shopify, RoomRaccoon, ResRequest, Oracle Hospitality and more, enabling businesses to go online quickly. Additionally, we participate in national forums promoting digital payments and financial inclusiveness, especially among SMEs.
2. What is the strategic importance of Mauritius for Peach Payments?
Sandeep Chagger: Mauritius plays a key role as an international financial center. Many global companies, from the Middle East, Europe, India, and Africa, have incorporated entities here due to its international financial centre status and ease of exchange controls.
We see a major opportunity to make Mauritius a billing and treasury hub for these companies. For example, hotel groups operating in several African countries can centralize their payment collections in Mauritius and then distribute funds to local entities.
Our goal is to strengthen Mauritius’ position as a regional billing and treasury center, attracting more companies and contributing to foreign exchange inflows.
Uways Kureeman: This applies across sectors, retail, insurance, travel, and hospitality. Mauritius offers multi-currency capabilities (USD, EUR, ZAR, SGD, etc.) to companies from across the world that can accept global payments through a presence in Mauritius.There are over 180 offshore management firms operating in Mauritius to attract these global and regional businesses to the island nation.
This is in addition to the local Mauritian companies selling to the highly banked and financially inclusive population of Mauritius that actively uses credit cards, debit cards and the instant payment methods prevalent in the country. In Mauritius, we have partnered with local financial institutions to help Mauritian companies accept local payment methods such as blink by Emtel, MCB Juice and the highly innovative instant payment system introduced by the Bank of Mauritius, called the Maucas QR.
Businesses in Mauritius can now accept cards, QR, and instant payments through a single integration for their online businesses. We are also pre-integrated with platforms such as Shopify, WooCommerce, and Wix, allowing SMEs to start easily without high setup costs.
3. Cybersecurity and trust are critical in fintech. How does Peach Payments ensure the security, reliability, and compliance of its payment platforms?
Sandeep Chagger: As a business that processes billions of transactions annually across nine countries, compliance and security are at the heart of our operations. We are PCI DSS Level 1 compliant, the highest global standard for payment security.
Every transaction passes through multiple security checks to detect fraud. Our systems identify anomalies such as mismatched IPs, card numbers, or names and automatically block suspicious activity.
We also support 3D Secure (OTP authentication) and offer secure recurring payment capabilities for subscription or single-click platforms.
Uways Kureeman: We’re an enterprise-grade solution. We have more than 120 advanced algorithms for live fraud detection and integrate with third-party risk service providers.
Our risk engine blocks suspicious transactions, maintains a platform-wide blacklist, and supports authentication tools like OTPs. With thousands of merchants across Africa trusting us, including global brands, we have proven reliability and scale.
4. How is Peach Payments supporting Mauritius and the region in embracing a digital-first financial ecosystem?
Uways Kureeman: We focus on accessibility. By integrating with banks and local payment systems, we reduce barriers for SMEs to enter e-commerce.
Whether small or large, all merchants get the same technology, security, and user-friendly experience. This promotes financial inclusiveness and ensures everyone can access digital payment solutions at affordable costs.
Sandeep Chagger: Mauritius already has over 90% banked population and 19 banks, impressive figures. But many businesses still rely on cash or manual bank transfers. As Peach Payments, we are fully integrated into the payments ecosystem, through our partners such as Mauritius Commercial Bank, State Bank of Mauritius, CIM Finance, ABSA Mauritius and Emtel.
We help them digitize payment collections, through e-commerce channels, QR based payment pages, or simple payment links, automating reconciliation and improving efficiency. We are also now looking at launching our in-store POS terminals in Mauritius, following a successful launch in South Africa earlier this year.
5. With growing interest from the Gulf region, especially the UAE, what opportunities do you see for collaboration with Gulf-based investors or technology partners?
Sandeep Chagger: Africa’s 1.4 billion people represent a huge consumer market, and we are building the payment rails that give African and global merchants, through their products and services, an opportunity to cater to the needs of this growing consumer base.
For any global company - from the Gulf, India, or Asia - entering Africa, Peach Payments simplifies expansion. Instead of integrating into payment systems country by country, they integrate once with us and get access to all domestic payment methods across multiple African markets. For these companies, we are not only solving for technical integrations. We are also providing 24/7 single-point support, consolidated reporting and reconciliation, not only across geographies but also across multiple payment methods, irrespective of whether they are dealing with ecommerce or in-store physical payments.
Mauritius offers a strategic base for expansion for these global and regional players, with over 40 double tax avoidance treaties, ease of exchange controls on foreign currency, and a robust regulatory framework that supports fintechs and payment intermediaries.
Uways Kureeman: Mauritius also offers a wide range of licenses, Payment Intermediary Services (PIS), Payment Service Provider (PSP), investment dealer, global treasury activities, and even virtual asset licenses under the Virtual Asset and Initial Token Offering Services (VAITOS) Act.
This diversity makes it an ideal gateway for Gulf investors, merchants or fintechs looking to access Africa and the world through a stable, regulated environment.
6. What message would you like to share with Khaleej Times readers about Mauritius as a fintech hub and Peach Payments’ role in shaping digital finance in the region?
Sandeep Chagger: Our message is simple: Mauritius is the ideal hub for global and regional companies to manage their billing and treasury operations.
In the last few months, a slew of developments have helped Mauritius to boost its appeal to FinTech firms. First, the government's new ICT blueprint, unveiled on 26 May, places emphasis on businesses going digital, scaling startup ecosystems and enabling public-private-people innovation through data-driven policy formulation and data exchange by leveraging the Freedom of Information.
Furthermore, the Strategy Report 2025-2030 launched by the Ministry of Financial Services and Economic Planning on 09 July expressly notes that the IFC will diversify and modernise the financial product offering, by supporting the development of FinTech, sustainable finance, wealth management, family offices, and capital markets.
No wonder many FinTech firms are heeding the clarion call to make a long-term commitment, invest in the country, employ a local workforce and immerse themselves into the growing African FinTech space from Mauritius.
With Peach Payments, you can accept payments worldwide, settle them in Mauritius, and fund your operations globally.
We’re here to help businesses leverage Mauritius’ international financial center status and seamlessly expand across Africa.
Uways Kureeman: And beyond business, Mauritius is a beautiful place to live and work. It’s not just a great financial hub; it’s a great lifestyle destination too.
7. Anything else you’d like to add?
Sandeep Chagger: Mauritius’ bilingual, highly skilled workforce is a big advantage. We have nearly 20 employees in Mauritius, and their ability to operate in both French and English allows us to serve both Francophone and Anglophone Africa effectively. It’s one of Mauritius’ hidden strengths and a key factor behind our regional success.
On a macro-economic level, it’s also worth noting that integration of the Mauritius Central Automated Switch (MauCAS) with India’s Unified Payments Interface in February last year, followed by the official launch of the RMB clearing facility with the Bank of China in June this year, mean that international investors clearly stand to benefit from the sheer reach and strength of its international payment systems.
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