In a drastic move to curb mounting fraud, the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) has significantly restricted access to customer account balances, a policy shift that threatens to complicate the bank’s service delivery. As of February 24, 2025, tellers across the country no longer have access to account balances, leaving this privilege solely to senior officials, including Branch Managers and Business Managers.
The change, outlined in a memo from CBE’s Acting Director of Retail Business Development, Kidus Minyishu, aims to address the growing concerns over widespread fraud affecting the bank, which holds a commanding share of Ethiopia’s financial market. The bank, responsible for more than 60% of the nation’s bank deposits, has been a prime target in a wave of financial crime that has put both CBE and Ethiopia’s broader banking infrastructure under increasing strain.
A Rising Tide of Financial Crimes
The decision to limit access to account balances follows a troubling surge in fraudulent activities across Ethiopia’s banking sector. According to the National Bank of Ethiopia’s (NBE) 2023 Financial Stability Report, the number of fraud incidents doubled, reaching a staggering one billion birr in the past fiscal year. Further NBE updates indicate that fraud losses soared to 1.3 billion birr in 2023/24, a stark increase from the previous year, with scams targeting both customers and banking systems alike.
These fraudulent schemes span a wide range of activities, from counterfeit currency and check forgery to ATM card theft and phishing scams. The rise of digital banking and the expansion of third-party services, which often involve external vendors and partners, have only exacerbated the risk of exploitation.
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