Electronic money transactions in WAEMU reached FCFA 219,151 billion in 2025, up 39.7% year on year, according to the dashboard published on 20 October by the Central Bank of the West African States.
Transactions also rose 37.3% to 16.36 billion. This acceleration confirms the place payments by phone have taken in daily exchanges, beyond access to a conventional bank account alone.
The BCEAO counts 284.76 million electronic money accounts opened, of which 92.71 million are active. The total exceeds the number of distinct users, as one customer may use several services. The electronic money usage rate nevertheless gained 3.1 points to reach 60.3%.
Côte d'Ivoire accounted for FCFA 71,307 billion of transactions and Senegal for FCFA 58,617 billion. Together, the two markets represented almost 59% of the regional value, underlining the gap in the depth of usage across the Union's eight countries.
The overall rate of use of financial services, adjusted for multiple account holdings, reached 76.1%, up 2.5 points. The strict banking rate stood at 26.9% and the broader rate at 50.6%, well below the indicator that includes electronic money.