ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – December 7, 2023: Commercial Bank of Ethiopia Branch in Addis Ababa.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Ethiopia’s largest bank says it is struggling to return millions of dollars after a glitch meant customers could make unlimited withdrawals over the weekend. local media reports.
More than US$40 million was reported to have been withdrawn from the state-owned Commercial Bank of Ethiopia or transferred to other banks as customers found they could withdraw more than their total balance. A few hours later the transactions were stopped.
Bank President Abi Sano said at a news conference on Monday that most of the cash was withdrawn by students. BBC report that there were long lines at campus ATMs.
Several universities have urged students to return cash that does not belong to them, and Sano reportedly said at a news conference on Monday that anyone who returns the money will not face criminal charges.
IN publish on XCBE confirmed the service interruption but denied it was the result of a cyber attack. The company added that its ATM services are now “fully operational,” according to a Google translation.
Ethiopia’s Central Bank, which oversees its financial sector, said in a statement that the break was the result of system security checks and not “an incident that puts the bank, its customers and the entire financial system at risk,” according to a Google translation.
“The problem was caused by an internal application update and not by an external attack. There are no issues affecting bank customers,” a CBE spokesperson told CNBC.