CBE Birr and Amole: Mobile phone-based money transfer platforms by Commercial Bank of Ethiopia and Dashen Bank

Government-owned Commercial Bank of Ethiopia and the the leading private bank in Ethiopia, Dashen Bank, have recently launched mobile phone-based money transfer platforms called CBE Birr and Amole, respectively.

Commercial Bank of Ethiopia launches mobile money platform: “CBE Birr”

Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) has officially launched its mobile money services dubbed CBE Birr after successfully testing its functionality for six months.

CBE Birr is a mobile based banking whereby the bank selects, trains and authorizes agents to provide banking services on behalf of the bank through a mobile phone. It is deployed as a means of extending financial services to  the unbanked segment of the public.

Customers may no longer need to travel long distances to visit CBE branch as they can get the service from the nearest CBE agents through CBE Birr. A CBE Birr customer can deposit, withdraw, transfer money, make payments, buy mobile airtime and pay bill using a mobile phone in a very simple and convenient way.

In order to get access to CBE Birr services, a customer needs to go to the nearby authorized agent with her/his mobile number and valid ID.

CBE Birr is believed to contribute a lot to build up saving culture of the public and streamline financial transaction and payment system of the country.

To date, the bank has succeeded in recruiting over 2,260 agents, over 1,350 merchants who receive payments through CBE Birr and over 225,980 CBE Birr customers.

The bank will continue playing its leading role in drawing the unbanked segment of the public to the financial system in order to stimulate development and economic growth.

Dashen Bank Launches “AMOLE,” the New Ethiopian Digital Wallet

Amole, named after the ancient salt-bar currency used in ancient Ethiopia, will offer mobile subscribers digital payment capability and access to aggregated digital products and services from Retailers, the Entertainment Industry, Airtime Dealers, Bill Payment Points, Airlines, Social Media Players and third-party service providers.

Dashen Bank intends to position Amole as a digital wallet that will trigger the growth of e-commerce in Ethiopia and promote financial inclusion across the country by ensuring a majority of the population in the country are roped into the financial inclusion net using technology.

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Appearing as a keynote speaker at the launch event, Michael Joseph, former CEO of Safaricom in Kenya and “the father” of the M-Pesa mobile money-transfer service, said, “The measure of success for “Amole” will be whether it will change the Ethiopian people’s lives through financial inclusion and have a lasting impact on the people’s lives.”

“Our customers can now transact at their convenience, easily, safely and affordably, regardless of where they are – at any-time using Amole digital platform, without necessarily being physically present at the transaction point, all done without leaving the comfort of their homes, office or moments of relaxation,” said Asfaw Alemu President of Dashen Bank. “For example, now our customers can use Amole to buy eBooks (In-App Purchase) from Lomi, ETTA and Sami Dan mobile applications and websites.”

Amole’s digital payment platform enables merchants and the bank’s agents with mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) to provide aggregated digital products and services (Digital Content) where our customers do their day-to-day shopping. This enables consumers to conveniently pay for their purchases, utility bill payments, person-to-person (P2P) transfers, electronic mobile top-up, Cash-in and Cash-out, among many other services using Amole or cash.

“By introducing Amole, we are enabling a sustainable e-commerce to other service providers to integrate with Amole platform for digital payments,” said Yemiru Chanyalew, the CEO of Moneta Technologies, Share Company. “There are many kinds of such services we have enabled with Amole, Airline ticketing with Ethiopian and Emirates Airlines, airtime purchase with Hidase Telecom, Social Media enabled payments with Meda plus much more…” Yemiru added.

At the launch of Amole on Wednesday July 18th 2018 at Sheraton Addis, the following ecosystem partner companies (Hidase Telecom, DStv, Shoa Supermarket, Lomi, ETTA, Zmall, Meda and Sami Dan) exhibited their digital products and services that use Amole digital payment platform to over 500 attendees of the launch event.

Sources: CBE & Markets Insider