WAEMU's Free-Transfer Mandate Forces Mobile Money Revenue Rethink Across Eight Countries
The BCEAO's mandate making person-to-person mobile money transfers free across the eight-country WAEMU zone is forcing operators to rethink their revenue models, with analysis suggesting cash withdrawal fees are likely to rise as a result. The repricing dynamic adds a commercial stress dimension to the regulatory intervention first reported on 5–6 October.
WAEMU Pricing: operators will find the money somewhere — probably at the ATM
When you cap what someone can earn on one thing, they find it somewhere else. That's not cynicism; it's arithmetic.
The BCEAO's own data shows cash withdrawals and deposits account for 57 per cent of all mobile money transaction value across the eight-country zone — nearly twice the share of transfers. That's the lever operators still control.
So the people the free-transfer mandate was designed to help — ordinary users sending small amounts to family — may end up paying more every time they pull cash out. The savings on sending could quietly get clawed back at the agent booth.
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- WAEMU’s free-transfer rule could make cash withdrawals more expensive · techcabal.com · T1