How do people in Togo pay online?
Mobile money leads, and it is growing fast. The BCEAO counted 12.55 million electronic money accounts in Togo at the end of 2024, up 51.12% from 8.31 million a year earlier, the strongest growth in the union. Active accounts, those with at least one transaction in the previous 90 days, rose 76.87% to 6.07 million. That is an activity rate of 48.35%, well above the UEMOA average of 30.90%.
Transfers still dominate. Togolese wallets carried 387 million transactions worth XOF 4,110 billion in 2024, 3.25% of the union’s volume. Person to person transfers made up XOF 975 billion of that value, while payments to merchants and billers came to 135 million transactions worth XOF 237 billion. Only 5,771 merchants were registered to take wallet payments, so online acceptance is still at an early stage.
Two wallets matter most. The BCEAO lists TMONEY, now Mixx by Yas under the Yas Togo brand, as an electronic money institution, and a partnership between Banque Togolaise pour le Commerce et l’Industrie and Togo Cellulaire for the same service. Flooz, Moov Africa’s wallet, runs through partnerships with Banque Atlantique, Orabank, Ecobank and Diamond Bank. Gozem Money and Coris Money are also on the list.
Cards are a small channel. Across the UEMOA, electronic money made up 98% of electronic payment transactions in 2024 and bank cards 1.74%. GIM-UEMOA, set up in 2003 by the BCEAO and banks, runs the regional card scheme and a GIM-eCommerce gateway, next to Visa and Mastercard. Google Pay is available for online and in-app payments in Togo.
Wallets are becoming interoperable. The BCEAO began live tests of its interoperable instant payment platform, PI-SPI, on 5 June 2025 and set the official launch for 30 September 2025. It connects banks, microfinance institutions and electronic money issuers across the union.
What rules shape online payments in Togo?
Foreign digital services now carry VAT. According to VATupdate, the 2026 Finance Law extends Togo’s 18% VAT to non-resident providers of digital services such as streaming, software as a service, online advertising, app stores and cloud computing, effective 1 January 2026. Platforms and marketplaces may be treated as the supplier and made responsible for collecting the tax. Registration and filing details were still awaiting guidance.
The local VAT threshold went up in 2025. The Office Togolais des Recettes explains that Finance Law No. 2024-007 raised the turnover above which a business must charge and pay VAT from XOF 60 million to XOF 100 million, from 1 January 2025.
Customer data has its own authority. Law No. 2019-014 on the protection of personal data created the Instance de Protection des Données à Caractère Personnel (IPDCP), an independent authority that handles complaints, approves charters and authorises transfers of personal data abroad.
Cross-border payments follow BCEAO rules. The CFA franc is pegged to the euro at XOF 655.957 per euro. BCEAO Instruction No. 01-07-2025/RFE, in force since 1 August 2025, governs payments to and from abroad and with non-residents, and asks approved intermediaries to watch for payments split to avoid controls.
How would Omno route payments in Togo?
A merchant would connect once and set routing rules per method, currency and customer group. In Togo:
- Mixx by Yas pay-ins would go to a provider with a Mixx by Yas connection in Togo, with the order pending until the customer confirms on the phone.
- Flooz pay-ins would be offered in the hosted checkout next to Mixx by Yas and routed to a provider that holds Moov Africa’s wallet.
- Card pay-ins can be routed by BIN, with cascading to the next provider in the rule if one is unavailable or rejects the request.
Webhooks would carry the final status of each payment, the record a back office should trust before shipping an order, and the routing-decision log would show which provider handled each payment and why.
What should merchants plan for?
Plan for two wallets. Mixx by Yas and Flooz each have their own customers, and a checkout with only one leaves part of the market out.
Plan for pending payments. A wallet payment waits for the customer’s confirmation, so orders need a pending state and webhook confirmation before fulfilment.
Plan for VAT on digital sales. Check whether the 2026 rules make you, or the marketplace you sell through, responsible for collecting 18% VAT from Togolese customers.
Plan for data and transfer rules. Customer data sent abroad needs IPDCP authorisation, and banks check payments abroad under BCEAO rules.