The Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) continues the operational deployment of its new instant payments infrastructure, called PI-SPI (Instant Payment – Instant Payment System). In an update published since February 24, 2026, the monetary institution has made public the list of establishments authorized to offer these services to the public in the WAEMU area. This list reflects a gradual increase in the device and the adherence of an increasing number of banking actors, fintechs, and mobile money operators to the new regional real-time payment system.
A system already deployed throughout the Union
According to data published by the BCEAO, more than 70 financial institutions are now authorized to offer PI-SPI services in the eight countries of the Union. The distribution varies according to the depth of national financial markets. Senegal appears as the country with the highest number of authorized participants, with 19 institutions, including banks, microfinance institutions, and electronic money operators. Among them are CBAO (Attijariwafa Bank group), Société Générale Senegal, Ecobank, UBA, as well as payment actors like Orange Finances Mobiles, Mobile Cash SA (MiXX Senegal), or Touchpoint Financial Services.
Ivory Coast follows with 15 institutions, confirming its status as the leading banking market in the Union, with the presence of banks such as BNI, Bridge Bank, SIB, or Orange Bank Africa. Mali, for its part, has 11 participants, while Burkina Faso has 9. The other countries show more modest figures: 6 institutions in Benin, 6 in Togo, 4 in Niger, and 4 in Guinea-Bissau.
Banks, fintechs, and mobile money in the same system
One of the striking features of the PI-SPI device is the diversity of authorized actors. In addition to traditional banks (BOA, Coris Bank, Ecobank, Orabank, UBA), the BCEAO has also integrated mobile money operators and microfinance institutions, such as:
Orange Money and Orange Finances Mobiles
Moov Money
Baobab
Cofina
UM-ACEP and UM-PAMECAS in Senegal
This architecture reflects the central bank’s desire to fully integrate innovations from digital finance into the regional payment infrastructure.
An essential infrastructure for financial transformation
The PI-SPI system is one of the structural reforms initiated by the BCEAO to modernize payments in the WAEMU. Its principle is based on the possibility of making instant, interoperable transfers available 24 hours a day, between bank accounts, mobile wallets, and other payment solutions.
For monetary authorities, several objectives are pursued:
accelerate the circulation of money in the economy;
reduce dependence on cash;
strengthen financial inclusion;
support the development of digital commerce.
In an economic space where mobile money has experienced rapid growth in recent years, the interconnection between different actors is an essential lever to streamline transactions.
Towards a new generation of financial services
The publication of this list of authorized establishments marks an additional step in the progressive production of the system. As new actors join the ecosystem, the PI-SPI infrastructure could promote the emergence of new financial services: instant merchant payments, fast cross-border transfers, or integrated fintech solutions.
For the WAEMU, the challenge goes beyond simple technical modernization. It is also about building a more integrated regional payment market capable of supporting the digitalization of the economy and financial innovation. In this context, the success of the system will now depend on user adoption and the ability of participating institutions to develop accessible and competitive services around this new infrastructure.
