ArifPay, a fintech company, and Abay Bank inked an agreement last week to launch a mobile point of sales (mPOS) service. An m-POS service is implemented through smartphones or tablets that can perform the tasks of a cash register or a traditional POS machine, wirelessly enabling bank account holders to make payments from ATM cards issued by any bank. The central bank issued a directive last year allowing non-financial institutions to operate as payment instrument issuers, including the supply of m-POS card reader devices. Abay Bank recorded profits of a little over half a billion Birr in the 2019/20 fiscal year, while its paid-up capital jumped 30pc to 2.17 billion Br during the same period.