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COMMERCIAL BANK OF ETHIOPIA GLITCH LETS CUSTOMERS WITHDRAW MILLIONS

18 March 2024
Share
Kalkidan Yibeltal
BBC News, Addis Ababa
Share
AFP
More than 38 million people hold accounts at Commercial Bank Ethiopia

Ethiopia's biggest commercial bank is scrambling to recoup large sums of money
withdrawn by customers after a "systems glitch".

The customers discovered early on Saturday that they could take out more cash
than they had in their accounts at the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE).

More than $40m (£31m) was withdrawn or transferred to other banks, local media
reported.

It took several hours for the institution to freeze transactions.

 * Latest updates from the African continent

Much of the money was withdrawn from state-owned CBE by students, bank president
Abe Sano told journalists on Monday.

News of the glitch spread across universities largely via messaging apps and
phone calls.



Long lines formed at campus ATMs, with a student in western Ethiopia telling BBC
Amharic people were withdrawing money until police officers arrived on campus to
stop them.

The student, who attends Jimma University Institute of Technology, said he "did
not believe it was true" when his friends told him at around 01:00 local time
(22:00 GMT) that it was possible to withdraw large amounts from ATMs, or
transfer the money using the bank's app.

Another student, at Dilla University in southern Ethiopia, said a number of his
peers retrieved money from CBE between midnight and 02:00 local time.

More than 38 million people hold accounts at CBE, which was established 82 years
ago.

Ethiopia's central bank, which serves as the financial sector's governing body,
released a statement on Sunday saying "a glitch" had occurred during
"maintenance and inspection activities".

The statement, however, focused on the interrupted service that occurred after
CBE froze all transactions. It did not mention the money withdrawn by customers.

Mr Sano did not say exactly how much money was withdrawn during Saturday's
incident, but said the loss incurred was small when compared to the bank's total
assets.



He stated that CBE was not hit by a cyber-attack and that customers should not
be worried as their personal accounts were intact.

At least three universities have released statements advising students to return
any money not belonging to them that they may have taken from CBE.

Anyone returning money will not be charged with a criminal offence, Mr Sano
said.

But it's not clear how successful the bank's attempts to recoup their money has
been so far.

The student from Jimma University said on Monday he had not heard of anyone
giving the money back, but said he had seen police vehicles on campus.

An official at Dilla University said bank employees were on campus collecting
money that some students were returning voluntarily.


MORE BBC STORIES ABOUT ETHIOPIA:

 * Ethiopia-Somaliland deal makes waves in Horn of Africa
 * Fear of famine in Tigray grows
 * Why Ethiopia's Amhara militiamen are battling the army
 * A quick guide to Ethiopia

Universities
Banking
Ethiopia

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