Ethiopia Launches First Domestic Credit Card, Entering the Digital Payments Arena
Ethiopia is stepping boldly into the digital payment landscape with the introduction of its first locally issued credit card. This significant development, born from a collaboration between SanuPay, a payment processor, and OpenWay, a global software provider, marks a pivotal moment in Ethiopia’s financial modernization journey. It signifies the country’s intent to diversify its digital payment options beyond mobile money solutions and embrace more conventional tools in the ongoing East African digital payments revolution.
Bridging the Gap: Infrastructure and Interoperability
The newly launched credit card leverages Ethiopia’s national payment switch, ensuring full interoperability with all banks and Point of Sale (POS) systems across the country. This integration is crucial for a seamless user experience and broad adoption. Underpinning the card’s infrastructure is OpenWay’s Way4 platform, a system trusted by banks worldwide. This robust technological foundation will support secure transactions and scalability, allowing for future growth and the potential for expanding the card’s functionality. This rollout is an important step for Ethiopia, which has seen a strong take-up of its own mobile money platform, Telebirr.
The new credit card will work on Ethiopia’s national payment switch, enabling the card to work with all Ethiopian banks and payment systems. OpenWay’s Way4 platform is the technology used by the card.
Ethiopia’s entry into the credit card market signifies its commitment to join the digital financial transformation sweeping through Africa. This initiative not only offers consumers an alternative payment method but also strengthens Ethiopia’s financial infrastructure, positioning it as a more competitive player in the increasingly digitalized African economy.
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