Ethiopia’s biggest commercial bank is muddling to recover large sums of money withdrawn by customers after a “systems glitch”.
Recall that early on Saturday 16 March 2024, the customers noticed that they could take out more cash than they had in their accounts at the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE).
Report says, more than $40m (£31m) was withdrawn or transferred to other banks.
It was gathered that it took several hours for the institution to freeze transactions.
Briefing newsmen on Monday 18 March, bank president Abe Sano, disclosed that much of the money was withdrawn from state-owned CBE by students.
News of the glitch spread across universities largely via messaging apps and phone calls.
It was learnt that Long lines formed at campus ATMs, with a student in western Ethiopia. People were said to be withdrawing money until police officers arrived on campus to stop them.
The student, who attends Jimma University Institute of Technology, said he “did not believe it was true” when his friends told him at around 01:00 local time (22:00 GMT) that it was possible to withdraw large amounts from ATMs, or transfer the money using the bank’s app.
Another student, at Dilla University in southern Ethiopia, said a number of his peers retrieved money from CBE between midnight and 02:00 local time.
According to reports, more than 38 million people hold accounts at CBE, which was established 82 years ago.
In a statement released on Sunday, Ethiopia’s central bank, which serves as the financial sector’s governing body, said that “a glitch” had occurred during “maintenance and inspection activities”.
The statement, however, focused on the interrupted service that occurred after CBE froze all transactions. It did not mention the money withdrawn by customers.
Mr Sano did not say exactly how much money was withdrawn during Saturday’s incident, but said the loss incurred was small when compared to the bank’s total assets.
He stated that CBE was not affected by a cyber-attack and that customers should not be worried as their personal accounts were intact.
At least three universities have released statements advising students to return any money not belonging to them that they may have been taken from CBE.
Mr Sano further stated that anyone returning money will not be charged with a criminal offence.
But it’s not clear how successful the bank’s attempts to recoup their money has been so far.
A student from Jimma University said on Monday he had not heard of anyone giving the money back, but said he had seen police vehicles on campus.
An official at Dilla University said bank employees were on campus collecting money that some students were returning voluntarily.
