How to Pay for Claude Code in Mauritania

Claude Code works fine in Mauritania. Anthropic supports the country. The problem is paying for it, most cards from BMCI, BPM, BNM, and Société Générale Mauritanie either aren’t enabled for international USD subscriptions or get blocked the moment Stripe tries to charge them.

The fix that actually works: fund a USD virtual card from your Bankily, Masrvi, or Sadad balance, and use that card on Claude.

That’s the whole guide. The rest is detail.

Quick facts before you start

• You don’t need a VPN. Mauritania is on Anthropic’s official supported-countries list. If claude.ai loads in Nouakchott, you’re good.
• Claude Code isn’t free. You need at least Claude Pro at $20/month. The free plan doesn’t include the terminal CLI.
• You’ll be billed in USD, not Ouguiya. So whatever card you use has to handle the MRU→USD conversion.

What it costs in Ouguiya

USD/MRU sits around 40 MRU per dollar and barely moves. Your bill in Ouguiya won’t swing month to month.

For most solo devs, Pro is the right starting point. You’ll know if you outgrow it — you’ll start hitting rate limits mid-session.

Add a 1–3% buffer for FX spread on whatever you fund. Or fund in USDT and skip the FX entirely.

Why does your card keep getting declined?

It’s not random. It’s structural. A few things stack up:

Card penetration is low

Outside major hotels and supermarkets in Nouakchott, most Mauritanians don’t carry a payment card. The ones that exist are often domestic-only, even with Visa/Mastercard logos.

The Ouguiya is tightly managed

USD outflows go through FX allocation processes that prioritize trade and remittances — not $20 software subscriptions. Your bank may not have USD earmarked for SaaS.

Recurring billing is rare locally

Most Mauritanian transactions are one-time, in-person, with 3D Secure. The card-on-file model that Claude Code uses is unusual here, and bank risk engines flag it.

International transactions are opt-in

A card that works fine at a Nouakchott supermarket may need a separate request to your bank before it can do cross-border online USD.

So the first charge sometimes goes through. Then, in month two, your subscription fails, and you’re stuck. That’s the pattern.

The four options (three are bad)

1. Try your local bank card. Worth one attempt if it’s already enabled for international online use. Renewals are where it usually breaks. Don’t build your workflow around it.

2. Ask a friend abroad to pay. You don’t control the card or the renewal. When their card expires or they switch banks, your Claude Code stops.

3. Buy gift cards or grey-market accounts. Don’t. Anthropic bans accounts opened with stolen-card credentials, and you lose your work history with the money.

4. USD virtual card funded from local rails. This is the one that actually scales. A USD Visa or Mastercard, issued by a fintech that lets you fund the wallet via Bankily, Masrvi, Sadad, bank transfer, or USDT. Looks like any normal international card to Anthropic. Renewals just work.

This is what developers in Egypt, Tunisia, Senegal, and Algeria settled on years ago for the same reason. It’s also what we built EverTry’s USD virtual card to do, funded the same way you’d top up Bankily, used on claude.ai without thinking about it. There are other providers in this space, too; the category is what matters.

What to look for in a virtual card provider

If you’re picking one, check for these:

• Funding methods that work in Mauritania — MRU bank transfer, mobile money (Bankily/Masrvi/Sadad), or stablecoins(USDC/USDT). If they only accept Naira, it’s useless to you.
• Tested with Anthropic, OpenAI, and GitHub. Some virtual cards use BIN ranges that Stripe flags. Ask before signing up.
• Transparent FX. You should see the rate before you fund.
• KYC that accepts Mauritanian ID. Some providers want a U.S. SSN. Skip those.
• Fast card replacement. If a card gets flagged, you want a new one in minutes, not weeks.

How to actually do it

1. Confirm Claude works for you. Sign in claude.ai from your normal connection. If you can chat on the free plan, you’re set. No VPN needed.

2. Open a virtual card wallet. Sign up with your provider. KYC with your Mauritanian ID or passport. Usually 5–15 minutes.

3. Fund the wallet. Pick one:

• Bank transfer in MRU from BMCI, BPM, or Société Générale Mauritanie
• Mobile money from Bankily, Masrvi, or Sadad
• USDT (TRC-20 is cheapest)

For Pro, fund about $25 — plan amount plus a small buffer so renewal doesn’t fail next month.

4. Generate the USD card. Inside your wallet, create a new card. Label it “Claude” so you remember what it’s for.

5. Add it to Claude. Go to claude.ai → Settings → Billing → Manage subscription. Pick Pro. Enter the card details.

6. Install Claude Code.

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
claude

Sign in with the same Anthropic account. The CLI picks up your Pro plan automatically.

7. Set a renewal reminder. Glance at your wallet balance the day before each renewal, just for the first 2–3 months. After that you’ll trust it.

That’s it. Most people finish in under 30 minutes the first time.

A quick word on Bankily, Masrvi, Sadad, Sedad

If you’re not from Mauritania, here’s what these are:

• Bankily — BPM’s mobile bank. Launched 2020. USSD *888# works on feature phones too.
• Masrvi — BMCI’s mobile financial service.
• Sadad Mauritanie — Electronic bill and merchant payment rail.
• Sedad — Mobile banking linked to local banks.

None of them issue a card Anthropic accepts directly. But they’re great for moving MRU around inside Mauritania — which is exactly what you need on the funding side of a virtual card setup.

The mental model: Bankily/Masrvi/Sadad in, USD virtual card out, Claude Code in the middle.

Bank-by-bank notes

These are starting points, not promises — bank policies shift quietly.

• BMCI — International cards available on request. First charge often works. Recurring renewals less reliable.
• BPM — Bankily handles domestic payments well. The Visa/Mastercard side has the same recurring-billing limitations.
• BNM — Click wallet is improving the local UX. International recurring billing is still hit-or-miss.
• Société Générale Mauritanie — As a French-affiliated bank, sometimes more permissive on international defaults. Still not built for $20/month subscription stability.

The pattern across all four: every major Mauritanian bank can issue an internationally-enabled card, but none of them are built around recurring SaaS. That’s the gap a virtual card fills.

Common errors and what they mean

“Your card was declined” — Bank-side block on the international charge. Don’t keep retrying. Switch to a virtual card.

Payment spinning forever — 3D Secure handoff didn’t complete. Refresh, watch for the OTP.

Subscription canceled after one month — Renewal failed. Top up your virtual card wallet, re-add the card on the billing page.

Claude Code says “no active subscription” but Pro shows active on the web — Run /logout in the CLI, then claude update, then sign in again. If you have an ANTHROPIC_API_KEY environment variable set, unset it — Claude Code will use API billing instead of your Pro plan.

“Payment requires authentication” loop — 3DS misfiring. In your card provider’s app, make sure 3DS is on and your phone number is verified for OTPs.

TL;DR

1. Mauritania is supported by Anthropic. Don’t bother with a VPN.
2. Local cards work for one charge, fail on renewals.
3. Get a USD virtual card you can fund from Bankily, Masrvi, Sadad, or USDT.
4. Add it to Claude, install Claude Code via npm, and you’re done.

FAQs

Is Claude Code legal in Mauritania? Yes. Mauritania is on Anthropic’s supported countries list.

Can I pay Claude with Bankily directly? No. Bankily moves money inside Mauritania but doesn’t issue a card Anthropic accepts. Use it to fund a virtual card.

Does my Mauritanian bank card work for Claude Code? Sometimes for the first charge, often not for renewals. A virtual card is the reliable path.

Do I need a VPN? No. Mauritania is supported. A VPN can actually cause problems.

What’s the cheapest paid plan? Pro at $20/month, or $17/month effective with annual billing. Free doesn’t include Claude Code.

Can I pay Anthropic in Ouguiya? No. Anthropic bills in USD. Your card handles the MRU→USD conversion.

What if my virtual card stops working? Issue a replacement in your provider’s app — usually takes minutes — and update the card on Claude’s billing page.

Claude Code in Mauritania isn’t an access problem. It’s a plumbing problem. Set up a USD virtual card once, fund it from the rails you already use, and the friction goes away.

If EverTry fits your situation, sign up here or download the app. If another provider fits better, the same steps work. The goal is the same either way: make payment a thing you handle once, then forget about.

Related: How to Pay for Claude Code in Africa · How to Pay for Claude Code (general) · How to Create a Virtual Card in Africa

Informational only. Verify current Anthropic pricing at claude.com/pricing. Claude and Claude Code are trademarks of Anthropic PBC. EverTry is not affiliated with Anthropic.