Banking Glitch At Commercial Bank Of Ethiopia Allows Customers To Withdraw Millions

Ethiopia's largest commercial bank is striving to recover significant amounts of money withdrawn by customers following a "systems glitch."

Customers realised early Saturday that they could withdraw more cash than their account balances at the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE).

Reports from local media suggest that over USD 40 million (£31 million) was withdrawn or transferred to other banks.

It took the institution several hours to halt transactions.

According to bank president Abe Sano, much of the money withdrawn from the state-owned CBE was by students.

The news of the glitch quickly spread across universities primarily through messaging apps and phone calls.

Long queues formed at campus ATMs, with a student from western Ethiopia informing BBC Amharic that people were withdrawing money until police officers intervened to stop them.

The student, attending Jimma University Institute of Technology, expressed disbelief when friends informed him around 01:00 local time (22:00 GMT) that it was possible to withdraw large sums from ATMs or transfer money using the bank's app.

Another student, from Dilla University in southern Ethiopia, mentioned that several peers retrieved money from CBE between midnight and 02:00 local time.