PI-SPI: send money free between UEMOA countries
Since 30 September 2025, the BCEAO has run PI-SPI: a send from any account (mobile money, bank, microfinance) to any other, across the 8 UEMOA countries, in seconds. For individuals it's free — in CFA francs only — as soon as both institutions are connected.
This guide brings together what the BCEAO publishes separately: how to create your alias, where PI-SPI shows up in real apps, how to check whether your institution is connected, and what the system actually replaces. Figures and dates from BCEAO communiqués.
What is PI-SPI?
PI-SPI is the BCEAO's interoperable instant-payment system — the BCEAO being the shared central bank of the 8 countries of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA). "Interoperable" means the wall between networks disappears: you can send from Orange Money to Wave, from a wallet to a bank account, or to a microfinance institution, without it being the same provider on both sides.
Three things define it, all from the BCEAO: it's instant (credited in seconds); it's free for individuals on person-to-person sends; and it's in CFA francs (XOF) only — so no FX, since the 8 countries share one currency. You never leave your own institution's app.
How to use PI-SPI: the alias and the QR
The alias is your phone number. Instead of sharing a long account number, PI-SPI identifies you by an alias — your phone number linked to an account. To receive, you give your number. To send, you enter the recipient's number.
The universal QR. A single QR standard works across apps: you scan a merchant's or a friend's code, whatever their institution, and the payment goes through.
Where it shows up, concretely. In Senegal, the Orange Maxit app surfaces a PI-SPI icon and the alias-creation step (source: orange.sn). Other operators integrate it as their own notes publish — verify inside each app. Don't see PI-SPI in your app yet? Your institution may not have finished rolling it out.
Is my institution connected?
As of 2 April 2026, the BCEAO counted 80 connected institutions in total. Among the connected e-money issuers are Orange Money and Wave (named by the BCEAO). We do not publish an invented per-country roster: the official, only up-to-date list is the BCEAO's.
The rollout honesty. Connection is mandatory. The BCEAO set the deadline at 30 June 2026, extended on 25 June 2026. Until yours or the recipient's is connected, the free, instant send doesn't yet apply on that link — coverage expands week by week, so check your institution.
Sources: pispi.bceao.int and its FAQ; BCEAO communiqués (launch 30 September 2025, participants 2 April 2026, extension 25 June 2026). Check the official list on bceao.int.
Is PI-SPI really free?
Yes for individuals, with one simple condition to remember: it's free and instant when BOTH institutions are connected to PI-SPI — yours and the recipient's. Since everything is in CFA francs, there's no FX; when both sides are connected, there is literally no fee left on a person-to-person send.
If either institution isn't connected yet, your send falls back to the old method and its cost. That's why we repeat the same condition everywhere: "free where both sides are connected." It isn't a marketing asterisk — it's the real mechanics of the rollout.
What PI-SPI replaces
The cross-network fee. Sending from one network to another often cost a transfer fee, because the wallets didn't talk to each other directly. Between connected institutions, PI-SPI removes that fee on the individual's side.
The workarounds. The roundabout methods people used to move money between networks (going through a third-party service, a relay account) lose their purpose when a simple alias works from one network to another.
The classic remitter for intra-UEMOA. For a send between two UEMOA countries — same currency, so no FX to pay — using an international money-transfer service makes little sense if both institutions are on PI-SPI. That's a fact, not a knock on any one operator: the honest comparison is on our "send within UEMOA" page.
PI-SPI or PAPSS? The distinction in one minute
The two get mixed up. PI-SPI is intra-UEMOA and in CFA francs: instant, free for individuals, between mobile money, banks and microfinance across the 8 countries — no FX, since it's one currency. PAPSS is pan-African and multi-currency: it links central banks across the whole continent to settle in local currencies (naira straight to cedis, for instance), and you reach it through your bank. Keep the rule: between UEMOA countries, PI-SPI; to a country in another currency, PAPSS.