CBE, Tele Partner to Start Digital Micro Financial Services

ADDIS ABABA – The Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) and Ethio Telecom joined forces to unleash a range of digital micro financial services targeting citizens underserved by the banking sector.

The two state-owned telecom and banking giants officially began the TeleBirr based digital micro credit and micro saving services.

The pair made four financial products available in a non-collateral platform for individual customers, Merchants and Agents based on their telebirr transaction credit score and salary payments made via telebirr.

According to Ethio telecom, the first digital service – named Sinq – is an interest free or interest rate based micro saving financial service that enables telebirr customers to save money with ordinary and locked options.

The second is called Enderas. The telco says it allows individual Telebirr customers to get a micro credit of up to 15, 000 Birr based on their telebirr transactions and services usage.

Named Deldiy, the third is microcredit service and targets Merchants/Agents enabling them to borrow up to 50, 000 ETB to run startups or expand existing businesses.

The fourth, named ‘Adrash’, offers credit service to employees of private and public institutions whose monthly salaries are paid through telebirr service and enables them to borrow up to 50,00 Birr.

These digital financial services “are unique for customers both in rural and urban areas for they can equally enable them to get loans without the need for collaterals,” the telco said.

In addition to being subscribers of Ethio telecom and telebirr as well as transaction frequencies, the customers can get loan service based on their credit score calculated with the support of an artificial intelligence system.

“Repaying loans on time and making wide transactions enable customers to maximize their credit score or the amount of money they can borrow,” the telco said.

Launched in May 2021, TeleBirr has more than 34 million subscribers who have made over 375.2 billion birr worth of transactions as of last month.