Orange Money, the market’s dominant player, has slashed its withdrawal fees to just 1% via its Max it app, down from 1.5%, in a move aimed at preserving market share as international fintechs — including Wave, Flutterwave, and Cauri Money — enter the country with aggressive expansion plans.

“We want to make life easier for Cameroonians through accessible and increasingly affordable solutions,” Orange Cameroon said in a statement, noting that the fee cut is part of a wider innovation strategy. The telco had previously cut fees from 2% to 1.5% in 2022.

But this latest cut is no ordinary discount — it’s a preemptive strike.

Senegalese-American unicorn Wave is officially entering the Cameroonian market through a partnership with Commercial Bank Cameroon (CBC), bringing its hallmark low-cost model that has already shaken up markets in Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal. Wave’s typical model offers capped transfer fees at 1% and free withdrawals — forcing competitors elsewhere to respond or risk irrelevance.

While Wave will not be issuing e-money directly — still a tightly regulated activity in the Central African region — it will operate through CBC’s license, providing services such as person-to-person transfers, bill payments, airtime purchases, and wallet-to-bank transfers.

The launch comes on the heels of Wave’s €117m debt round led by Rand Merchant Bank and several DFIs including Norfund, Finnfund, and British International Investment. With 20 million users across eight markets and a 150,000-agent network, Wave is now one of Africa’s fastest-scaling fintech players.

Wave’s arrival adds to a growing list of ambitious entrants targeting Cameroon. Nigerian unicorn Flutterwave recently secured a digital payments license via a partnership with Ecobank Cameroon, allowing it to offer card payments, mobile money, and bank transfers in CFA francs. Flutterwave sees the move as foundational to its broader Central African ambitions.

“We are here for the long haul,” said Flutterwave CEO Olugbenga “GB” Agboola, adding that the company’s infrastructure will support local SMEs and multinationals alike.

Meanwhile, Franco-Senegalese fintech Cauri Money has launched “Gajo Money,” a digital wallet designed for the Cameroonian diaspora in Europe. Backed by licensed local partner BFI S.A., Cauri’s offering allows migrants to send remittances, pay bills, and manage family expenses remotely. The diaspora sent over $600m to Cameroon in 2024, per World Bank figures.

Cauri is targeting €120m in transaction volumes by the end of 2025 and has formed an investor group — CICM-600 — to rally 600 African professionals around its growth. “We are building through local institutions and tailoring services to each market,” said CEO Lamine Tall.

A Market on the Rise

Cameroon is emerging from the shadows of Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa as a prime fintech market. Between 2019 and 2023, the value of mobile money transactions in the country jumped 162% to 24.3 trillion CFA francs (€37bn). The number of active mobile money accounts surged 144% to over 24 million, with 2.4 billion transactions recorded in 2023 alone.

With more than 190,000 service points, the mobile money ecosystem is deeply embedded in Cameroonian daily life — making it both attractive and difficult to penetrate.

Yet, the tax burden remains steep. Mobile money users are charged a 0.2% tax on transactions, plus a flat fee of 4 CFA francs per operation. Operators must factor these costs into already razor-thin pricing wars.

Even with the influx of capital and innovation, the market is haunted by past failures — chief among them, YUP, Société Générale’s mobile money venture, which shuttered in 2022 despite institutional backing. YUP peaked at 689,000 users, but only 22,000 were active. By contrast, Orange Cameroon boasted more than 10 million users at the time.

YUP’s failure illustrates the steep learning curve foreign entrants face: navigating tight regulations, unseating dominant players, and winning user trust are not tasks money alone can solve.

Cameroon now accounts for over 70% of mobile money transactions in Central Africa. According to BEAC, it processed more than €90bn in mobile money transactions in 2022 alone.

It’s no surprise that fintech giants are circling. But if history is any guide, capital, product, and ambition aren’t enough. Local partnerships, nuanced regulation management, and staying power will separate the winners from the flameouts.

Fee wars may be heating up, but so is regulatory scrutiny — and in Cameroon, disruption doesn’t come cheap.