Payment Processing with an Anjouan Gaming Licence

Anjouan is one of the islands of the Union of the Comoros. Online gaming licences are issued in its name under the Computer Gaming Licensing Act of 2005, administered since 2023 by Anjouan Licensing Services, with the Anjouan Offshore Finance Authority named as the wider financial authority. Licences cover B2C operators and B2B suppliers, are issued for one year at a time and must be renewed annually.

Operators choose Anjouan because applications are processed in weeks rather than months, fees are low and there are few local substance requirements. Those same features are what make acquirers careful.

Banking and financial legislation in the Comoros is a matter for the Union government, not for the individual islands. The Central Bank of the Comoros has published warnings that bodies claiming to license banks and financial institutions from Anjouan, naming the Anjouan Offshore Finance Authority, have no legal existence and operate illegally. That warning was republished by the Comoros Ministry of Finance in December 2025.

In December 2025, an investigation by the Australian broadcaster ABC reported that a former Comoros attorney general described the gaming licensing body as an illegal entity, and that casinos holding Anjouan licences were taking deposits from Australian players without an Australian licence. The issuing body continues to operate and says it tightened its licence conditions in September 2026, after the FATF published a report on gambling risks.

We do not take a position on the legal argument. For payment processing, what matters is that acquirers know about the dispute, and many will not rely on an Anjouan licence as evidence that your gambling activity is lawful.

Before processing online gambling, an acquirer must register the merchant with Mastercard and be satisfied that the gambling is lawful where the merchant is and where its players are. A licence whose own legal basis is questioned makes that much harder to show. Many acquirers that board Curaçao or Malta operators therefore decline Anjouan-only operators outright.

The acquirers that do consider Anjouan operators tend to start with lower processing limits, a higher reserve and a narrower list of permitted countries, and they look for evidence beyond the licence itself.

Anjouan licences exclude a published list of countries. Recent guidance names Australia, Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, the Comoros itself, FATF blacklisted countries and any further jurisdictions the authority bans. The list changes, so check the current version with your licence.

Even outside that list, an acquirer will only accept deposits from countries where it is satisfied your activity is lawful. Expect your permitted-country list to be shorter than the one your licence allows, and expect it to be checked against your actual deposits.

• A second licence from a jurisdiction acquirers read as stronger, such as Curaçao under its new regime or Malta, held by the contracting entity.
• A local licence in each regulated market you serve. Without it, do not take players from that market.
• Clear player markets with working geo-blocking, and deposit data by country that matches what you declare.
• A real place of business: an office, named directors and key staff, and a payout bank account in the company's name.
• A written AML framework: player due diligence, source-of-funds checks, sanctions screening and a named compliance officer.
• Clean processing history with low chargebacks, if you already process elsewhere.
• Responsible gaming tools on the live site: age verification, deposit limits and self-exclusion.

If a provider closes or reviews your account because of your licence, ask for the reason in writing and for the notice period. Move volume carefully: shifting all traffic at once to a new provider without history is what triggers the next review. In the longer term, a stronger licence for the same entity is usually what reopens the wider market.

Ecompayer is not a payment provider. You add your licence, company, player markets, volumes and payment methods once, and your profile is matched with a payment provider that accepts that combination. If an Anjouan licence alone is not enough for the providers that fit your markets, the result shows you that before you spend time on applications.

• Banque Centrale des Comores, communiqué on unauthorised financial licensing bodies (2022), republished by the Comoros Ministry of Finance, December 2025, as reported by Finance Magnates, March 2026.
• ABC News (Australia), investigation into Anjouan licences, 31 December 2025.
• Anjouan Licensing Services: Computer Gaming Licensing Act 2005, licence terms and restricted territories.
• FATF, Risks of Gaming and Gambling, September 2026.
• Mastercard, Security Rules and Procedures, Merchant Edition, section 9.4.2.