More than $40 million withdrawn from Commercial Bank of Ethiopia due to Technical Glitch

On Saturday, customers of the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) discovered that they were able to withdraw more cash than they had in their accounts. Reports from local media indicated that over $40 million was withdrawn or transferred to other banks. It took several hours for the bank to freeze transactions.
According to the bank’s president, Abe Sano, a significant portion of the money was withdrawn by students. The news of this glitch quickly spread across universities through messaging apps and phone calls. Students formed long lines at campus ATMs, withdrawing money until police officers arrived to intervene.
One student from Jimma University Institute of Technology expressed disbelief when informed by friends that they could withdraw large amounts from ATMs or transfer money using the bank’s app. Another student, from Dilla University, mentioned that several of their peers withdrew money from CBE during the early hours of the morning.
CBE, which has been operating for 82 years and has over 38 million account holders, experienced a glitch during maintenance and inspection activities, according to a statement from Ethiopia’s central bank. The focus of the statement, however, was on the interrupted service after CBE froze all transactions and did not mention the money withdrawn by customers.
Although the exact amount of money withdrawn during the incident on Saturday was not disclosed, Mr. Sano stated that the loss was relatively small compared to the bank’s total assets. He clarified that CBE was not affected by a cyber-attack and assured customers that their personal accounts remained secure.
At least three universities have released statements urging students to return any money they may have taken from CBE that does not belong to them. Mr. Sano stated that individuals returning the money would not face criminal charges. However, it is unclear how successful the bank has been in recovering the funds so far.
As of Monday, the student from Jimma University mentioned that he had not heard of anyone returning the money, but noted the presence of police vehicles on campus. An official from Dilla University reported that bank employees were collecting money from students who were voluntarily returning it.