Fintech & digital payments rules in Burkina Faso (2026)

The BCEAO supervises all payments and e-money for the 8 WAEMU states. Instruction n°001-01-2024 on payment services, aligned with the 2023 Uniform Banking Law, sets the licensing framework applied uniformly in Burkina Faso.

Providers must obtain BCEAO approval as a payment institution (établissement de paiement / EDP), an electronic money establishment (EME), or register as a payment service provider; minimum capital ranges from 10 to 100 million FCFA depending on services, with AML/CFT, governance and fit-and-proper requirements.

After a transition period, the BCEAO required all fintechs/payment providers to be licensed by 31 August 2025; from 1 September 2025 only licensed entities may offer payment services in the Union. Early licensees include InTouch and FeexPay, both active in Burkina Faso.

The BCEAO's interoperable Instant Payment System Platform (PI-SPI) went operational on 30 September 2025, connecting banks, microfinance, e-money issuers and mobile-money operators (Orange, MTN, Moov) for real-time 24/7 transfers across WAEMU; the instruction obliges providers to offer instant payments.

An EME or payment institution authorised in one UMOA state may, subject to BCEAO authorisation, operate in other member states, so a Burkina Faso entity can scale region-wide and regional players can serve Burkina Faso.

There is no dedicated open-banking mandate or specific buy-now-pay-later regime; such activities fall under the general payment-services/banking and consumer-credit rules. The regime is centred on payment and e-money licensing rather than API-mandated open banking.