Règlement n°15/2002/CM/UEMOA du 19 septembre 2002 relatif aux systèmes de paiement dans les États membres de l'UEMOA (Regulation No. 15/2002/CM/UEMOA on Payment Systems in the Member States of WAEMU)

Regulation No. 15/2002/CM/UEMOA, adopted by the WAEMU Council of Ministers on 19 September 2002, is the umbrella regional legal framework governing payment systems across all eight member states of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU/UEMOA): Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. As a Council of Ministers Regulation, it is directly applicable and binding in every member state without the need for national transposition, and it is supplemented by detailed BCEAO Instructions (notably on electronic money and, since 2024, on payment services). It is recorded here under Côte d'Ivoire as the Union's largest economy, but applies uniformly region-wide. Scope and applicability: The Regulation organises and secures interbank clearing and settlement systems and other payment systems in the Union, and provides the legal foundation for cashless and electronic means of payment (transfers, direct debits, cards, cheques and bills of exchange). It confers on the BCEAO responsibility for the proper functioning, efficiency, soundness and security of payment systems across the Union, and empowers it to take all measures necessary to organise and oversee them. Core provisions: It establishes settlement finality and the irrevocability of payments processed through designated systems; recognises electronic means of payment and dematerialised instruments; provides for electronic certification service providers and gives legal value to electronic signatures and certificates (including, under conditions, those issued outside the Union); and creates offences and sanctions relating to means of payment (for example cheque-related incidents and the centralisation of payment incidents). It is complemented by the BCEAO's operational systems STAR-UEMOA (RTGS for large-value/urgent payments) and SICA-UEMOA (automated clearing for retail payments), and by regional interbank card switching (GIM-UEMOA). Supervision and enforcement: Oversight of payment systems is exercised by the BCEAO, with the WAEMU Banking Commission supervising regulated institutions. The Regulation underpins subsequent BCEAO Instructions that set licensing and conduct requirements for electronic money issuers and payment service providers, making it the foundational instrument on which the Union's digital-payments and fintech regime is built.

1. 1Directly applicable regional Regulation binding in all eight WAEMU member states without national transposition
2. 2Confers on the BCEAO responsibility for the functioning, efficiency, soundness and security of payment systems across the Union
3. 3Establishes settlement finality and irrevocability of payments in designated interbank clearing and settlement systems
4. 4Recognises electronic and dematerialised means of payment and provides legal value for electronic certificates and signatures
5. 5Provides for electronic certification service providers, including recognition of foreign-issued certificates under conditions
6. 6Creates offences and sanctions relating to means of payment and underpins the centralisation of payment incidents
7. 7Legal foundation for BCEAO operational systems (STAR-UEMOA RTGS and SICA-UEMOA ACH) and subsequent e-money and payment-services Instructions