Bankers Association Urges Responsible Action

Mar 23 , 2024

The Ethiopian Bankers' Association, representing 21 banks, expressed disappointment with the lighthearted social media commentary surrounding the recent internal system glitch in the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE). While the Association acknowledged the leak of information to university students remains unexplained, a statement released last week indicates a regret over the aftermath reactions. Last week, the state-owned CBE implemented a software update intended to improve digital services. However, the update malfunctioned, causing unauthorised transactions. The glitch resulted in processed transfer credits without corresponding debits. CBE's official channels swiftly apologised for the inconvenience and reassured the public that no external cybersecurity breach had occurred with services up and running the next day. CBE President Abie Sano who also leads the Association, is overseeing the investigation focused on differentiating legitimate transactions from withdrawals. He disclosed that roughly 490,000 transactions occurred, with individual amounts reaching up to 186,000 Br. While an official investigation is ongoing and CBE officials did not confirm, industry sources claimed close to 66,000 customers withdrew a combined sum of 2.4 billion Br. "The investigation requires time," said Abie. While commending those who have already returned unauthorised funds, Abie warned that legal action will be taken against those who fail to comply.