ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – Dec. 7, 2023: The Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) is the largest bank in the country.
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Ethiopia’s largest bank is struggling to get millions of dollars back after a weekend glitch allowed customers to withdraw unlimited money, according to local media reports.
More than $40 million was reportedly withdrawn from the state-owned Commercial Bank of Ethiopia or transferred to other banks as customers found they could withdraw more than their total balance. The transactions stopped a few hours later.
The bank’s president, Abie Sano, said at a news conference on Monday that much of the cash had been withdrawn by students, and the BBC reported that long queues were forming at campus ATMs.
Several universities have asked students to return cash that does not belong to them, and Sano reportedly said at Monday’s press conference that anyone who returns the money will not be prosecuted.
In a post on X, the CBE confirmed the service disruption but denied it was due to a cyberattack. The company added that its ATM services are now “fully functional,” according to a Google translation.
Ethiopia’s central bank, which oversees its financial sector, said in a statement that the disruption was due to system security checks and was “not an incident that endangers the bank, its customers and the entire financial system,” according to a Google translation.
CNBC has reached out to the CBE for comment.
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2024-03-19 09:35:57
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