WAEMU mobile money transfers are free up to 8,000 CFA francs a day from 2 November

From 2 November 2026, domestic mobile money transfers between individuals in the West African Monetary Union must go through PI-SPI, the Central Bank of West African States instant payment platform, and sending is free up to a combined 8,000 CFA francs a day. The change covers the eight WAEMU countries, and it replaces the old patchwork of operator to operator routes for transfers that cross from one bank, mobile money operator, microfinance institution or payment institution to another.

BCEAO, the Central Bank of West African States, launched PI-SPI on 30 September 2025. A year later it had 175 connected participants and was accessible to more than 38 million people, according to BCEAO figures reported by TogoFirst.

What changed

The mandatory route is the main change. From 2 November, an interoperable person to person electronic money transfer in WAEMU goes through PI-SPI rather than through a bilateral arrangement between the two providers involved. PI-SPI transfers are instant and irrevocable.

The same BCEAO instruction, issued on 8 October 2026, raised the limits on what a verified customer can hold and add. The maximum electronic money balance for a verified customer with a single issuer rose from 2 million to 4 million CFA francs. Monthly cumulative top-ups for that customer with that issuer rose from 10 million to 15 million CFA francs.

In Senegal, the practical effect arrived as a suspension, with Bank to Wallet and Wallet to Bank services suspended from Monday 2 November and banks directing customers to PI-SPI instead, according to Le Soleil reporting carried by Madar. Customers quoted in that reporting said notice arrived only days before the change, so a route that worked the previous week may now sit behind a different menu in a bank app.

Who it covers

The rule covers domestic transfers between individuals. It does not cover every kind of payment, and it does not yet cover transfers across WAEMU borders, where the same pricing terms will apply from 1 June 2027, according to BCEAO reporting by TogoFirst and Incote d'Ivoire.

Receiving is free, with no cap on the amount received or on the number of incoming operations, and that free receiving rule applies regardless of the sending fee above the daily threshold.

What it costs above the free limit

The free limit is cumulative, not per transaction, so a user who sends 5,000 CFA francs in the morning and 3,000 CFA francs later the same day has used the full free amount for that day with that provider, even though neither single transfer reached 8,000 CFA francs. The count runs per user and per participating institution, so the free total resets with a different provider and on the next day.

Above 8,000 CFA francs in a day, the provider sets the fee within a BCEAO cap of 0.8 percent of the transfer amount, excluding tax, and the fee can be anywhere from 0 to 0.8 percent, which is why two providers can charge different amounts for the same transfer above the threshold. MTN Benin, for example, announced a 0.5 percent fee on national interoperable transfers above the free threshold from 2 November, and raised its per transfer limit on those transfers from 500,000 to 2 million CFA francs.

BCEAO says the 8,000 CFA franc threshold covers about 75 percent of electronic money transactions in the Union, a share of transactions rather than a share of money moved, so a small number of larger transfers still sit above the free limit and pay the capped fee.

What to check with your provider

Three things are worth checking, in general terms, before sending a transfer to another operator. First, whether the provider routes that transfer through PI-SPI and what fee it charges above the daily free total, since the cap is a maximum and not a single rate. Second, whether the provider's app needs an update or a separate activation step. In Senegal, using PI-SPI involves updating the bank app, activating PI-SPI and creating an alias such as a phone number, then entering the recipient's identifier or QR code and checking the details shown before confirming.

Third, whether the old route still exists at all, since in Senegal it does not, for Bank to Wallet and Wallet to Bank, from 2 November. A transfer that fails on the old menu is not necessarily a failed account or a missing balance; it may be a route that has been switched off in favour of PI-SPI.

What comes next

The next dated change is 1 June 2027, when the same terms, free sending up to a cumulative daily total and a capped fee above it, with free receiving, will apply to transfers between WAEMU countries. Until then, the free threshold and the fee cap in this piece apply to domestic transfers only.