Coop Bank Ventures into Utility Billing Service

Cooperative Bank of Oromia now offers a mobile-based utility bill payment service that up until now has been monopolised by the state giant, Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE).

The Bank has signed an agreement with Ambo and Woliso water bureaus to launch the system to collect water bill payments from the residents in the towns using mobile phone applications and internet portals.

The agreement was signed on Tuesday, December 31, 2019, at the premises of the Bank located on Africa Avenue. Derbe Asfaw, president of the Bank, inked the agreement with Girma Disasa and Daba Ararsa, heads of Woliso and Ambo water & sewerage service bureaus, respectively.

In the capital, CBE is providing the utility payment service for water, electric and telecom bills, taking over the assignment from Kifiya Financial Technology Plc. None of the private banks is involved in the service.

As the first private bank to offer the service, Coop Bank will use COOPay E-Birr, a system that provides technology-based options including wallet money transfer, mobile airtime top-up, cash withdrawal and bill payment. The system also operates through cellular phone communication protocols and internet banking with a single registration requirement.

The system allows transferring money from one bank to another as well as to mobile wallets. It also enables transfers from mobile wallets to other Cooperative Bank accounts. The system also makes it possible to transfer money locally, even if the receiver does not have a mobile wallet or a bank account.

For clients of the water authorities, the system will send text messages to provide them with their payment details. Previously, they were going to the water bureau and payment collection centres monthly to find out what their bill amounted to.

E-Birr Payment Solutions, a locally registered company, is behind the development and management of the technology-based payment system the Bank launched. Currently, more than 100,000 customers are already registered and have started using the system since it was first launched in August 2019. The application works in four languages; Afan Oromo, Amharic, Somali and English.

To ensure the security of data protection, a copy of the information concerning all transactions will be kept in a backup system on a host server at Ethio telecom, according to Bewket Taffere, chief operating officer of E-Birr Mobile Financial Services, which was established in 2016.

So far, the Bank has already implemented the service in Adama, and it is in the process of launching it in Bishoftu, according to Derbe.