Ethiopia’s national financial switch operator, EthSwitch, says that the value of interoperable peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions has exceeded that of ATM transactions.
EthSwitch, which was announcing its results for the financial year 23/24, revealed that interoperable P2P transfers in the 2023/24 fiscal year amounted to 49.69 million transactions, with a total value of 270.7 billion Birr ($2.27 billion) – marking a significant 251% growth compared to the previous year.
P2P Transfers in January 2022.#keyachivements #EthSwitch #Payments #ATMs #POS #AddisAbaba #banksecurity pic.twitter.com/vEay2WivVq
— EthSwitch SC (@EthswitchSC) February 18, 2022
The P2P services include:
- account-to-account
- account-to-wallet
- wallet-to-wallet, and
- wallet-to-account transfers
While ATM transactions remained higher in volume at 94.5 million, their total value was 123.2 billion birr ($1.09 billion), falling short of P2P transfers. In comparison, point-of-sale (POS) transactions recorded by EthSwitch reached 2.1 million, with a total value of 5.7 billion Birr – showing a 125% increase from the previous year [22/23].
ATM Cash withdrawal in January 2022.#keyachivements #EthSwitch #Payments #ATMs #POS #AddisAbaba #banksecurity pic.twitter.com/8oz4F1s9Oq
— EthSwitch SC (@EthswitchSC) February 17, 2022
Speaking to reporters, EthSwitch board Chairman, Solomon Desta, said the year was a success despite facing economic and legal challenges. The Vice Governor of the National Bank of Ethiopia also pointed out ongoing disputes with tax authorities, which have led to court proceedings, as a significant obstacle.
That said, EthSwitch achieved growth on multiple fronts, increasing its total assets to 3.45 billion Birr ($28.3 million) and earning a net profit of 789 million Birr ($6.4 million), with revenues rising by 86% to 1.13 billion Birr ($9.2 million).
Launched in 2011, EthSwitch is a share company owner by the country’s banks, operating a national payment switch.
Since 2016, it has enabled interoperability of ATMs and POS terminals operated by all banks. Currently, it is also rolling out projects to achieve interoperability of other digital payment platforms operated by all financial service providers.
In early 2023, as reported by BitKE, MasterCard announced a collaboration with EthSwitch to facilitate the transfer of funds, ultimately displacing traditional brick-and-mortar transfers as consumers increasingly seek convenient and contactless payment options.
EthSwitch, Ethiopia’s National Payment Switch, Partners with MasterCard to Expand Access to Local, Cross-Border Paymentshttps://t.co/i8xf8XmENK#payments
— PaymentsNews.com (@paymentsnews) April 25, 2023
This development comes amid efforts by the federal government and the National Bank of Ethiopia to advance economic reforms. Notably, the country recently floated its exchange rate marking a significant shift in the country’s economic policy.
🇪🇹REGULATION | Ethiopia Floats Exchange Rate in a Significant Policy Shift as it Intensifies Reforms Towards a Free Market Economy
According to a separate statement by Prime Minister of #Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed, the new exchange rate system aims to align the Ethiopian currency… pic.twitter.com/q7i8aBqSzH
— BitKE (@BitcoinKE) July 29, 2024
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