Abyssinia Bank Taps to Digital Loan Solution

Feb 4 , 2023

The Bank of Abyssinia (BoA) is moving forward to provide banking solutions facilitating microloans. The Bank has hired an Indian-based tech vendor Newgen Software Company, that bagged the international bid on December 22, 2022. Over 10 companies have shown interest in the bid floated by the bank four months ago. The solution provider has committed to completing the project in six months with Yonas Daniel, regional manager for Newgen, and Menbereselassie Gebrekidan, procurement director at Abyssinia Bank, signing an agreement last week, at the Bank's headquarters, on Churchill Avenue. Newgen has previous experience building digital loan automation for Kenyan banks such as KCB and Equity. It partnered with MKTY IT Services Plc, under Markos Tilahun, to handle the pre and post-sales. Markos applauded the Bank for being competitive, creating a loan system, and making finance more accessible. He said the financial sector lacks a bank that can be a role model in technology, product diversification, customer service and efficiency. According to Markos, this platform could unleash the growth potential of domestic banks. "Banking won't be the same after six months," he told Fortune. The first-generation bank disbursed loans and advances of 111.58 billion Br in 2022, a rise of 48pc from the year before and twice the industry average of 42 billion Br.  Abyssinia Bank is also at the cusp of pioneering end-to-end digital services, introducing "neo-banking" in retail banking, allowing clients to open accounts and manage transactions without visiting physical branches