Ethiopian bank seeks to recover millions after glitch triggers massive withdrawals
Ethiopia’s biggest bank is trying to recover millions after a technical glitch allowed customers to withdraw more money than they had in their accounts.
The Commercial Bank of Ethiopia lost more than 2.4 billion Ethiopian birr (approximately £32m), local media reports suggested.
The bank has not said how much was withdrawn but its CEO, Abe Sano, told reporters half a million transactions were made during the glitch.
News of the technical issue was spread on social media by university students, who withdrew much of the money, he said.
The bank will not press charges against students who took out cash that did not belong to them, according to the bank boss.
It is working with the police to recoup the lost cash, he added.
The problem was caused by a “routine system update and inspection” rather than a cyber attack, Ethiopia’s central bank said in a statement.
Long queues formed at cash machines across the country after the problem was discovered.
The country’s banking system was shut down for several hours while the issue was fixed, with customers unable to withdraw cash.
The Commercial Bank of Ethiopia was established in 1963 and has around 40 million customers.