Ethiopia’s largest bank, the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, is facing a significant financial dilemma as a technical glitch allowed customers to withdraw more money than they had in their accounts. Reports suggest that the bank is now trying to recover over $40 million that was withdrawn during the glitch. University students were the first to take advantage of the situation, spreading the news on social media and withdrawing substantial sums of money. Despite the bank confirming half a million transactions during the glitch, the exact amount withdrawn remains unclear, with local estimates putting the losses at around $42 million.
Fortunately, Ethiopian officials have ruled out a cyberattack as the cause of the issue, attributing it to a routine system update gone wrong. The banking system had to be shut down for several hours to rectify the glitch, leaving customers temporarily unable to withdraw cash. Long queues formed at campus ATMs, with students in various parts of Ethiopia taking advantage of the situation to withdraw money. One student mentioned how he initially doubted the news about being able to withdraw large amounts from ATMs, but was surprised when it turned out to be true.
The incident led to a temporary closure of banking operations for several hours to resolve the issue, leaving customers unable to access their funds during that time. The Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, founded in 1963, is the largest bank in the country, catering to a customer base of 40 million individuals. Despite the setback, it is expected that the bank will recover from this financial setback and strengthen its systems to prevent such glitches from occurring in the future.