The deadline granted to financial institutions for the implementation of the Interoperable Instant Payment System Platform (PI-SPI) of the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO) expired yesterday, 30 September 2026. The primary takeaway is that for Senegal, 43 financial institutions are connected.
For the banking sector, the major names in the ecosystem are present. These include the leaders of the 2025 ranking in terms of total assets, namely CBAO Attijari, Société Générale Sénégal, the Islamic Bank of Senegal (BIS), the National Bank for Economic Development (BNDE), ECOBANK Sénégal, CORIS BANK INTERNATIONAL, etc.
Regarding microfinance, market leaders are also present. These consist mainly of BAOBAB, COFINA, UM-ACEP, and UM-PAMECAS.
As for mobile money, the big surprise is WAVE Sénégal. Initially hesitant, the institution featuring the penguin has finally appeared on the list dated 30 September 2026, alongside its major competitor, Orange Finances Mobile.
A more open market. For digital transformation specialist and head of Fintech Kalispot, Mika Diol, the PI-SPI will primarily put an end to a historical anomaly in UEMOA: the fact that money is digital but remains locked in silos.
He considers that, until now, sending money from a bank to a wallet, from a wallet to a bank, or between two different institutions could be slow, costly, or complex. Today, he analyzes, with the PI-SPI, the goal is for the client to be able to transfer or receive money instantly, 24h/24 and 7d/7, regardless of their financial institution.
The BCEAO, according to him, presents the PI-SPI as a regional instant payment infrastructure that is interoperable and available continuously across the eight countries of the UEMOA. This leads him to state that the true change is structural because interoperability is becoming the norm, and the client should no longer have to wonder if their beneficiary is in a specific bank, a certain wallet, or a particular microfinance institution.
"Money must circulate fluidly, securely, and more cheaply. In my view, it is a reform as important as the arrival of mobile money some fifteen years ago.
Except this time, the infrastructure is not supported by a single private actor: it is mutualized, regional, and regulated," explains Mika Diol. Catalyst for Fintechs.
Continuing his analysis, Mika Diol believes this will be a catalyst for fintechs, but a constraint for opportunistic models. According to him, fintechs that create value through user experience, distribution, scoring, inclusion, automation, or value-added services will benefit from a more open payment infrastructure.
They will no longer need to reconstruct complex rails on their own to connect multiple actors. Conversely, the expert considers that fintechs whose model relies primarily on transfer fees, the closure of their ecosystem, or asymmetry in network access will be challenged.
"The PI-SPI will commoditize basic payments. And when payment becomes a common infrastructure, differentiation shifts elsewhere: quality of service, customer proximity, product innovation, compliance, availability, trust," maintains Mika Diol.
Published on 01/10/26 07:56. Mouhamadou Dieng
