The Ministry of Health, working with the National Bank of Ethiopia(NBE) and the Ministry of Finance, has begun piloting a digital payment system across selected health facilities, linking them with banks and platforms such as ArifPay, EthSwitch, M-Pesa and Telebirr. The system was introduced last year as part of the Digital Ethiopia 2030 agenda. Designed by the central bank, the platform aims to curb fraud, protect data and ease payment processes for patients and providers. A review forum held at Elilly Hotel brought together health institutions, payment service providers, and national and regional health bureaus to assess one year of implementation. Solomon Damtew, representing the NBE, said the system is performing well, though expansion faces hurdles tied to public attitudes, digital literacy among customers, and cases where payments are directed to health institutions' bank accounts. Officials said future improvements will require directing all payments to institutional accounts and limiting cash transactions to encourage digital use. The forum announced plans to move all health service payments to the digital platform.

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