BCEAO rolls out PI-SPI payment platform
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Le Soleil
The BCEAO is rolling out PI-SPI to replace direct transfers between bank accounts and electronic wallets, promising free transactions for users. The implementation arrangements and main effects of the reform had already been published, according to Le Soleil.
The Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) is rolling out its PI-SPI instant payment platform on 2 November for transfers between banks and electronic money services, Senegalese daily Le Soleil reports. The Bank to Wallet and Wallet to Bank services, which enabled money transfers between a bank account and an electronic wallet, are suspended from that date.
For domestic transfers, payments totalling 8,000 CFA francs or less per day, per user and per participant are now free, with no limit on the number of transactions. Receiving money is also free, with no cap. According to BCEAO data reported by Le Soleil, this threshold covers about 75% of electronic money transactions in the West African Economic and Monetary Union, which comprises eight countries. The same conditions will apply to cross-border transfers from 1 June 2027.
The rollout could reduce the income banks and mobile money operators earn from transfers, Le Soleil notes. Customers quoted by the newspaper also say they lack explanations about the change and regret the simplicity of the old services.
The PI-SPI platform was launched on 30 September 2025. The reform took effect at 175 providers on 2 November, according to an article published the same day.
