West Africa Central Bank to Launch Regional Instant Payment Network

BREAKING NEWSSeptember 11, 2025 at 11:29 AM UTC

TLDR

The Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) will officially launch the Interoperable Instant Payment System Platform (PI-SPI) on September 30
The goal is to make instant transfers between banks, mobile money operators, and fintechs effective across the WAEMU region
From now on, a user can send money from Wave, Orange Money, or MTN MoMo to any other platform without extra transfer fees

The Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) will officially launch the Interoperable Instant Payment System Platform (PI-SPI) on September 30, 2025, making instant transfers between banks, mobile money operators, and fintechs effective across the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA).

The reform, initiated in 2021 and made mandatory in 2024, ends proprietary silos. From now on, a user can send money from Wave, Orange Money, or MTN MoMo to any other platform without extra transfer fees.

For market players, the implications are clear:

End of closed ecosystems: customers are no longer locked into a single platform.
Level playing field: new entrants benefit from shared infrastructure.
Standardization: instant transfer becomes a basic service, pushing operators to innovate beyond it.
Regulatory costs: integration with PI-SPI carries compliance expenses, heavier for established players like Wave.

Beyond mobile money, interoperability boosts e-commerce, agritech, insurtech, and facilitates diaspora remittances.

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Key Takeaways

Wave illustrates the challenges facing pioneers. Its closed-loop model with 1% fees had transformed the market, but interoperability reduces this edge: forced customer loyalty disappears and competitors benefit from an already-educated market. Basic innovation—fast, low-cost transfers—has now become the standard, shifting competition toward value-added services such as super-apps and integrated financial solutions. For regulators, the reform is a win: it expands financial inclusion and strengthens transparency. For investors, it redraws the landscape: differentiation will hinge on user experience, the ability to integrate multiple services, and monetizing new use cases. UEMOA is becoming a regional laboratory to test the impact of mandatory large-scale interoperability, sending a clear message: the era of silos is over.

Startups

Finance

Fintech

Payments

WAEMU

BCEAO

Interoperability