The Banque Centrale des États de l’Afrique de l’Ouest (BCEAO) intended 2 November 2026 to mark a milestone in regional financial integration. From that date, all interoperable electronic-money transfers across the eight-nation West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) were mandated to route through PI-SPI, the central bank’s shared instant payment platform.
Instead, the first days of the mandatory rollout have been marked by technical glitches, user confusion, and widespread frustration. What was billed as a transformative step toward financial inclusion has, for many users, resulted in debited accounts without credited recipients, a labyrinthine registration process, and a return to cash.
The central bank’s ambition was clear. By connecting 175 institutions and giving over 38 million people access to a unified network, PI-SPI was meant to break down the closed-loop dominance of telecom and fintech wallets. The BCEAO also capped transfer fees to protect consumers: transfers under 8,000 CFA francs (about $13) per day are free, and larger transfers are capped at 0.8 per cent.
But the gap between policy on paper and practice on the ground is proving wide.
The ‘Alias’ bottleneck
A primary source of friction is the platform’s identification system. To route funds across different institutions, users must create a unique “alias.” In practice, users across Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire report that the system is failing to recognize their existing credentials.
“I tried to create my alias on Wave using the same phone number I use on Orange Money, and it says it’s not available,” said one user on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. Other users reported that claiming an alias on one platform effectively blocked their access on another, with no clear way to resolve the conflict in the application.
For a market where the vast majority of transactions have historically relied on a simple phone number, the requirement to navigate complex, platform-specific codes is a significant barrier. “What used to take two clicks now takes copying and pasting a super long code,” another user wrote.
Failed transfers and customer service
The technical failures have gone beyond user interface complaints to the loss of funds. Multiple users reported attempting transfers from Orange Money (OM) to Wave, only to find their OM account debited and their Wave account uncredited.
In some cases, the funds were eventually reimbursed manually by Orange Money, but only after prolonged delays. Other users reported similar issues with bank-to-wallet transfers, with customer service representatives at both the telecom operators and the fintech companies reportedly shifting blame.
A user attempting to send money from an Ecobank account to Wave reported that the transaction stalled indefinitely on a “Request received and processing” message. Others reported that CBAO transfers to Wave were failing outright.
In a statement on social media, Ecobank Senegal confirmed the transition, directing customers to use PI-SPI via its mobile app. However, users quickly flooded the replies with reports of the feature being unavailable or unresponsive.
The fee illusion and the 1% loophole
While the BCEAO mandated free transfers for small amounts and a 0.8 per cent cap on larger ones, operators have moved quickly to protect their margins elsewhere.
Wave, which controls roughly 80 per cent of Senegal’s mobile money market, introduced a 1 per cent fee on cash withdrawals. Because the BCEAO’s mandate only capped transfer fees and explicitly left cash-out charges unregulated, the move effectively allows Wave to recover the revenue lost from the fee cap.
For users, the new pricing structure is a net loss. Prior to the mandate, many banks and Orange Money offered free or heavily subsidized transfers. Now, users face the 0.8 per cent cap on transfers, plus new withdrawal charges.
One user reported being charged 0.94 per cent on a transfer via UBA, noting that the 0.8 per cent cap was combined with an additional 0.14 per cent in taxes. “Where we used to pay 500 CFA francs for a bank-to-wallet transfer of 200,000 francs, we can now end up with more than triple the fees,” the user stated.
Wave’s delayed integration
A significant portion of the user frustration has been directed at Wave. The company, which became Francophone Africa’s first tech unicorn, connected to PI-SPI on 30 September — the absolute final day of the regulatory deadline. However, the public-facing update enabling PI-SPI within its app only began rolling out to users in early November.
One user noted that as of 1 November, only a fraction of Wave’s user base appeared to have received the update. The delayed integration, combined with the new withdrawal fees, has fueled a public perception that Wave is resisting the interoperability mandate.
“The BCEAO accepts lowering its pants to integrate Wave,” a Senegal-based user noted, criticizing the central bank for perceived leniency toward the market leader. Others accused Wave of deliberately sabotaging the rollout.
The BCEAO has not publicly commented on the technical failures or the specific rollout timelines of individual operators. However, the central bank’s mandate was designed precisely to prevent any single operator from holding the system hostage. The reality is that Wave’s dominance means the platform’s success hinges on its integration.
A looming threat of exclusion
The most pressing concern for the BCEAO is the growing sentiment among users to abandon digital payments altogether. In a region where financial inclusion is a central policy goal, social media conversations are increasingly dominated by users threatening to revert to cash.
“I’m going back to the ATM and my checkbook,” one user stated. “It’s financially and geographically too long now.”
The central bank has stated that the 8,000 CFA threshold covers 75 per cent of electronic-money transactions in the union. But for the remaining 25 per cent — the merchants, the suppliers, and the individuals sending larger sums — the new rules represent a significant increase in cost and complexity.
Furthermore, the requirement to maintain multiple aliases across different platforms incentivizes users to hold multiple wallets, undermining the very interoperability the system was designed to foster.
The road ahead
The BCEAO’s mandate to create a unified payment rail is not inherently flawed. Similar systems, such as India’s UPI or Brazil’s Pix, have successfully lowered costs and expanded access. But those systems were built on simple, user-friendly interfaces and seamless integration.
West Africa’s rollout has instead exposed the fragility of the region’s digital infrastructure. Banks like Coris are reportedly requiring customers to physically visit branches to link their accounts to the new system. Fintechs are struggling to align their aliases. And operators are finding loopholes to maintain their revenue.
For the BCEAO, the immediate challenge is technical. It must compel operators to stabilize their networks and simplify the user experience. For the operators, the challenge is reputational. If the friction continues, the trust that consumers placed in mobile money — a system that revolutionized access to finance in West Africa — could erode.
The platform is live, the mandate is in force, and the users are waiting. Whether PI-SPI evolves into a seamless public utility or remains a bureaucratic hurdle will depend on the coming weeks. For now, the promise of instant, low-cost payments across West Africa remains a work in progress.