Banks in Senegal

Senegal uses the West African CFA franc, commonly called FCFA, issued within the BCEAO monetary system. The UMOA Banking Commission supervises banks across the eight UMOA countries, including licensing, sanctions, crisis resolution and deposit protection. A bank approved in one UMOA country can offer the same services regionally under the single approval system, subject to the applicable rules. As of 31 December 2025, Senegal had 29 banks: 23 branches or subsidiaries and six branches of foreign institutions. Examples include SUNU BANK, BOA, Banque Atlantique, BHS, BIMAO, BIS, BRM, BSIC, LBA, CBAO, Citibank, Ecobank, Société Générale Sénégal, UBA, BNDE, Coris Bank and ABS. The BCEAO list should be checked for current authorization and exact institution names. Four banking-character financial institutions were also listed: FINAO, LOCAFRIQUE, WAFACASH West Africa and SAFCA-Alios Finance Succursale du Sénégal. Customers commonly use a compte de dépôt or compte courant for everyday banking, a livret d’épargne for savings, a dépôt à terme for money committed for a defined period and épargne contractuelle for scheduled saving. A deposit account normally includes at least one payment instrument, account maintenance, transfers, direct debits, collection or clearing services and a quarterly statement. The bank can provide a RIB, which is the account identification record, on request. The account agreement sets conditions, charges and possible penalties. Account opening requires customer identification under know-your-customer and anti-money-laundering rules. An individual generally provides their full name, date and place of birth, main address, valid official photo identification and proof of address. A trader additionally provides a RCCM registration, while a legal entity provides its legal form, registered office, governing bodies, authority to act and a current RCCM extract. Remote opening can require enhanced checks. Senegal has no separately established general right to a bank account in the researched sources, and the minimum banking service applies only after a deposit account has been opened. Some services are generally free under the BCEAO fee list, including opening and closing an account, issuing and maintaining a savings book, monthly statements, the annual fee statement, cash deposits and withdrawals at the customer’s own bank, salary domiciliation, changing identification details, setting up a direct debit or standing transfer, withdrawals at the bank’s own ATM, UMOA card payments, balance or transaction-history checks at the bank’s own ATM, transfers within the same bank and collection of cheques or transfers. Applicable taxes, such as a fiscal stamp in some cases, and other bank-specific fees can still apply. Banks publish their conditions and tariffs twice a year. There is no single statutory account-opening service deadline; the practical time depends on the bank, the KYC review and the documents supplied. Payments can use cash, cheques, cards, transfers or direct debits. SICA-UEMOA processes retail cheques, transfers, direct debits and bills, while STAR-UEMOA handles real-time gross-value settlement and large-value payments. A 2024 BCEAO instruction covers banks, banking-character financial institutions, payment institutions, SFDs and electronic-money issuers. Payment service providers without the required authorization had to stop operating by 1 May 2025. GIM-UEMOA provides interbank card interoperability across ATMs and payment terminals, with national, regional and international use depending on the card and provider. At the end of 2023, the UEMOA region had 8,004,173 cards, including 79.2% linked to accounts and 20.8% prepaid; 96.7% met PCI-DSS or EMV security standards. Senegal had 1,513,819 cards, including 1,200,329 account-linked cards, 313,490 prepaid cards, 1,485,640 EMV cards and 16,047 magnetic-stripe cards. Mobile money and other electronic-money services provide a practical alternative for everyday payments but are not automatically classic bank accounts or covered by bank-deposit protection. As of 28 February 2026, Senegal had five electronic-money issuers: Orange Money, Free Money/Mobile Cash, Wave Digital Finance, Quickpay and Touch Point. The same date showed 11 licensed payment institutions and nine bank or technology partnerships, including Kash Kash, Wizall, Zuulu Pay, Ecobank-DJAMO, Coris Money, Bissocash, Post Cash and Flash. The public PI-SPI participant list contained 24 institutions as of 31 July 2026, including banks, electronic-money issuers and SFDs. SFD means a decentralized financial system, such as a regulated microfinance network, and can extend formal financial access without being a conventional bank. The FGD-UMOA deposit guarantee covers eligible bank deposits up to FCFA 1,400,000 per depositor and member institution. For SFDs, the maximum is FCFA 300,000. Compensation is normally due within a maximum of three months, except in cases of force majeure, and the account or deposit contract must contain the applicable guarantee information. A bank must provide an accessible internal complaints procedure. If the complaint remains unresolved, the customer can use free mediation before going to court and can complain to the BCEAO or the UMOA Banking Commission when the matter is not settled. In 2024, 69.2% of cases handled with institutions were resolved in favor of complainants, although deadlines depend on the institution and procedure. Customers should keep receipts, account statements, correspondence and the complaint reference. Protect account credentials and personalized payment data, use official banking channels and authorize access only for intended accounts. EMV cards and PCI-DSS controls reduce payment risks but do not prevent every fraud attempt. The CIP-UEMOA centralizes information about payment incidents involving cheques, cards, bills of exchange and promissory notes and supports regularity checks. If a card, phone or account is lost or misused, contact the bank or payment provider immediately to block access and preserve all evidence. A conventional bank is usually suited to formal deposits, salaries, business accounts, cards and regional transfers; mobile money is often more practical for daily payments and low-threshold access, while SFDs provide an additional regulated financial channel.