The verdict in three sentences
Integrating CinetPay or PayDunya into a B2B website or client portal costs 600,000 to 1,800,000 FCFA (about 915 to 2,745 EUR) in development, plus 2.5 to 3.5% fees per transaction depending on the payment method and country. The real value is not the "Pay" button but the confirmation webhooks and automatic invoice matching, which eliminate manual reconciliation. A realistic timeline is 3 to 5 weeks, including the aggregator's KYC approval.
CinetPay or PayDunya: 2026 comparison
Both aggregators cover mobile money and bank cards across the WAEMU zone. CinetPay has a strong historical presence in Côte d'Ivoire and broad coverage of West and Central Africa; PayDunya was born in Senegal and remains well established there. The choice depends mostly on your billing countries and the payment methods your clients actually use.
| Criterion | CinetPay | PayDunya |
|---|---|---|
| WAEMU countries covered | Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin, Niger | Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Benin, Togo, Mali, Burkina Faso |
| Payment methods | Orange Money, MTN, Moov, Wave, Visa and Mastercard | Wave, Orange Money, Free Money, MTN, Moov, card |
| Mobile money fees (2026 order of magnitude) | 2.5 to 3% | 2.5 to 3% |
| Card fees (2026 order of magnitude) | 3 to 3.5% | 3 to 3.5% |
| Notification webhook | Yes, with status check via API | Yes (IPN), with verification hash |
| Payout delay | D+1 to D+3 business days | D+1 to D+3 business days |
| Merchant account approval (KYC) | 1 to 2 weeks | 1 to 2 weeks |
Exact rates are negotiable above 20,000,000 FCFA in monthly volume: a 0.3 to 0.5 point reduction is common for a regular B2B account.
What the integration costs, item by item
A clean integration is more than a payment page. You must secure the confirmation (never trust the browser return alone), link each transaction to an invoice and handle failures.
| Item | Scope | 2026 budget |
|---|---|---|
| Basic API integration | Payment initialization, redirect, return page | 250,000 to 500,000 FCFA |
| Secure webhooks | Signature or status check, idempotency, logging | 150,000 to 350,000 FCFA |
| Invoice matching | Unique reference per invoice, paid status, partial payments | 150,000 to 450,000 FCFA |
| Payment link by email or WhatsApp | Sent with the PDF invoice, reminders | 50,000 to 250,000 FCFA |
| Multi-country and multi-aggregator | Routing CinetPay and PayDunya by country | 0 to 250,000 FCFA |
| Testing and acceptance | Sandbox, failure cases, refunds | 0 to included |
| Total | 600,000 to 1,800,000 FCFA |
For a WordPress or WooCommerce site, an existing plugin may do for 300,000 FCFA, but matching with external invoicing software still has to be built.
3 to 5 week schedule
| Week | Action |
|---|---|
| 1 | Merchant account opening, KYC documents (trade register, tax ID, bank details) |
| 1 to 2 | Sandbox development, webhooks, matching |
| 3 | Acceptance with 10 to 20 real low-value transactions |
| 3 to 4 | Go-live, first payment links sent |
| 5 | Adjustments, collections dashboard |
Mini case study
Aïssatou, CFO of an IT services company in Dakar, invoices 400 clients in 5 WAEMU countries, for 85,000,000 FCFA per month. Her two accountants spend 50 hours a month matching bank and mobile money transfers, and average collection time is 52 days.
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After integrating PayDunya and CinetPay for 1,400,000 FCFA, 45% of invoices are paid online. On 38,000,000 FCFA collected through this channel, fees at 2.8% amount to 1,064,000 FCFA per month. In return, collection time drops to 31 days, freeing about 21 days of cash on 38,000,000 FCFA, a financing need reduced by about 26,000,000 FCFA. At a 9% annual overdraft rate, that saves 195,000 FCFA per month, plus 40 hours of reconciliation avoided (about 400,000 FCFA). Aïssatou then negotiates fees down to 2.3%, making the channel profitable from month 4.
FAQ
Can we pass the fees on to the client?
Technically yes, but surcharging is regulated and poorly received in B2B. Common practice is to absorb the 2.5 to 3.5% or offer a 1 to 2% discount for immediate payment.
Is a webhook enough to mark an invoice as paid?
No, you must also verify the status through the aggregator's API or the signature hash. This double check adds 1 to 2 days of development but prevents fraud through fake notifications.
Do we need an entity in each country?
No, a merchant account in one WAEMU country lets you collect FCFA from the other countries in the zone. Still check local tax obligations if you invoice more than 50,000,000 FCFA a year in one country.
What about partial payments?
The matching module records the deposit, sets the invoice to "partially paid" and generates a new link for the balance. Budget an extra 100,000 to 200,000 FCFA for this logic.
Can we also integrate Wave directly?
Yes, the Wave Business API charges about 1% in Senegal and Côte d'Ivoire. A dual setup with Wave direct and an aggregator for the rest costs 300,000 to 600,000 FCFA more.
Let's scope your project. Share your billing countries, invoicing software and monthly volume, and we will price a CinetPay or PayDunya integration between 600,000 and 1,800,000 FCFA, delivered in 3 to 5 weeks. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
