BCEAO Mandates Interoperable UEMOA Transfers Via PI-SPI Platform

Starting November 2, 2026, interoperable person-to-person electronic money transfers in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) will have to go through the BCEAO's PI-SPI platform. PI-SPI is a regional payment infrastructure developed by the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO). It connects banks, electronic money issuers, microfinance institutions and payment institutions across the eight UEMOA countries, allowing users to make instant transfers between different networks without the sender and recipient having to use the same operator. The measure, announced last week, comes with 175 participants now connected to the platform and more than 38 million people able to access instant payments. The central bank for the eight-country union had initially set June 30, 2026, as the deadline for banks, electronic money institutions and payment institutions to connect to the platform. It later pushed the deadline back to September 30 to allow operators to complete their technical integration. Microfinance institutions have until June 30, 2027, to connect. PI-SPI Expands Across the Region In July, PI-SPI was already accessible to 30 million people and had processed about one million transactions worth CFAF 110 billion since its launch in September 2025. At the time, 80 institutions were connected to the platform. Togo is among the markets covered by the platform's expansion. In April, Mixx Togo joined PI-SPI, allowing its users to make instant transfers between mobi