Identity verification in Mauritania
Executive summary. Mauritania is a member of the Middle East and North Africa Financial Action Task Force (MENAFATF) with an AML/CFT framework governed by Law No. 2005-048 on combating money laundering and terrorism financing (as amended), supervised by the Cellule d'Information Financière (CANIF), the national FIU. Mauritania is also a member of the Union Économique et Monétaire Ouest Africaine (
Documents supported
(Government IDs from 220+ countries)
Average verification time
Countries covered
(Government-issued IDs validated)
Market overview
Mauritania has a population of approximately 4.9 million and a GDP of roughly USD 10 billion. Nouakchott is the commercial capital. The economy is driven by mining (iron ore, gold), fisheries, agriculture, and emerging oil and gas. Three verticals drive KYC demand:
Supported documents
Didit templates cover national IDs, passports, residence permits and regional documents — plus 14,000+ documents globally for cross-border flows.
Regulators
The central bank issues binding instructions on CDD, internal controls, and reporting for banks and payment institutions
Mauritania does not have comprehensive data protection legislation, though the Constitution guarantees privacy rights
Supervises banks, microfinance institutions, and payment service providers for prudential and AML compliance
National FIU, responsible for receiving, analysing, and disseminating suspicious-transaction reports
Banking supervisory body within BCM
Agence Nationale du Registre des Populations et des Titres Securises (ANRPTS)
restricted
Biometric national ID card system. Civil registry maintained. Coverage expanding but rural areas remain underserved.
Ministry of Interior
restricted
Birth, death, and marriage registration. Digitization efforts underway.
Government & regulated databases
Compliance framework
AML framework
Supervised by BCM Instructions
- Loi No. 2005-048 (as amended by Loi 2015-035) — On combating money laundering and terrorism financing. Defines CDD, risk-based approach, beneficial ownership, PEP screening, and STR reporting. - BCM Instructions — The central bank issues binding instructions on CDD, internal controls, and reporting for banks and payment institutions. - Ordonnance 2007-012 — On microfinance regulation, including AML obligations. - Data protection — Mauritania does not have comprehensive data protection legislat
Data protection
Supervised by Data protection
Mauritania lacks comprehensive data protection legislation. Constitutional privacy guarantees provide a general framework, but there are no specific cross-border data transfer restrictions comparable to GDPR. Financial data sharing is governed by banking secrecy provisions and BCM instructions.
Use cases
Neobanks, EMIs, payment institutions, lenders, brokerages.
1. Document capture. Photograph of biometric CNI (front and back) or biometric passport. 2. Liveness and biometric match. Selfie with liveness detection, matched against the document portrait. 3. Data extraction. NNI, full name, date of birth, place of birth, address. 4. PEP and sanctions screening.
Exchanges, custodians, wallets, on/off-ramps.
Mauritania has not established a VASP regulatory framework. The BCM has not formally addressed virtual assets. Any virtual-asset service falls under general AML obligations:
Sports betting, online casinos, age-gated platforms.
Mauritania is an Islamic republic, and gambling is prohibited under national law. There is no iGaming licensing framework. Any offshore operator serving Mauritanian residents faces general AML obligations if transactions are routed through Mauritanian financial institutions.
Gig platforms, delivery, creator economy, e-commerce.
Marketplace platforms and e-commerce operators in Mauritania face CDD obligations primarily through mobile money integration:
Biometric liveness
Mauritania's biometric CNI (since 2011) and biometric passport (since 2016) contain chip-stored facial images and fingerprints. NFC-based chip reading is technically feasible but commercial PKI access is not available. Liveness detection (ISO 30107-3 compliant) with document-portrait matching is the standard for remote onboarding. ---
CERTIFICATIONS
Our platform meets the highest international standards for information security, data privacy, and biometric accuracy.
Full EU data protection compliance
Information security management
PAD (liveness + face match)
TRUSTED WORLDWIDE
Join thousands of companies that trust Didit for their verification needs
Didit’s NFC + active biometrics technology blocks the most advanced fraud scenarios, offering a level of security equivalent to or superior to in-person verification.
Spanish Financial Sandbox
CNMV, SEPBLAC & Spanish Treasury — Conclusions Report
Didit is an exceptionally valuable partner, delivering a stable and highly adaptable solution”.
Vuk Adžić
Head of the E-Business Department at Crnogorski Telekom
Didit offered us a robust technology with a simple implementation and adaptability to different markets”.
Fernando Pinto
CEO & CoFounder at TucanPay
Thanks to Didit we have been able to reduce manual processes and improve data extraction accuracy”.
Diana Garcia
Trust & Safety Executive at Shiply
Didit’s integration slashed verification times and costs, freeing resources for other projects”.
Guillem Medina
COO at GBTC Finance
Didit removed KYC costs, enabling faster scaling with high verification standards and less fraud.”
Paul Martin
VP Marketing & Growth at Bondex
Didit’s secure, user-friendly verification boosts customer trust and optimizes our process.”
Cristofer Montenegro
Executive assistant to the CEO at Adelantos
Didit ensures a precise, secure digital onboarding without slowing negotiations or client time.”
Ernesto Betancourth
Gerente de riesgos at CrediDemo
FAQ
Yes. Mauritania permits remote KYC onboarding under its national AML framework, including document verification, biometric liveness and video identification where required by regulation.
Didit verifies all major national IDs, passports and residence permits issued in Mauritania, plus 14,000+ document types globally for cross-border flows.
Didit charges $0.30 per verification with 500 free checks per month. No contracts, no minimums. Competitors typically charge $1.00–$2.50+ per verification.
Yes. Didit screens against 1,000+ global watchlists including PEP databases, sanctions lists (EU, UN, OFAC, OFSI), and adverse media — covering all AML obligations in Mauritania.
Most regulated sectors in Mauritania require or strongly recommend biometric liveness detection for remote onboarding. Didit provides ISO 30107-3 PAD Level 2 certified liveness.
Yes. Didit supports document verification, liveness, AML screening and ongoing monitoring aligned with Mauritania’s crypto regulatory framework, including EU Travel Rule compliance where applicable.
Yes. Didit provides document-based age verification and identity confirmation suitable for Mauritania’s iGaming regulatory requirements.
500 free verifications per month. No contracts, no minimums. $0.30 per verification after the free tier.
