Reports from Ethiopia indicate that the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, the country's largest bank, is currently in the process of recovering over $40 million following a technical issue that allowed customers to withdraw more funds than they had in their accounts. The incident led to long queues at ATMs across the country as customers rushed to access the excess funds.
The bank's CEO confirmed that the glitch, which occurred during a routine system update and inspection, resulted in approximately half a million transactions being processed. While the exact amount withdrawn has not been disclosed by the bank, local media estimates suggest that around 2.4 billion Ethiopian birr ($42 million) was lost during the incident.
Despite the disruption caused by the technical problem, the central bank of Ethiopia clarified that the issue was not the result of a cyberattack. As a result of the glitch, the country's banking system was temporarily shut down to address the situation, preventing customers from making cash withdrawals.
Established in 1963, the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia serves a vast customer base of 40 million individuals. In response to the incident, the bank is collaborating with law enforcement agencies to recover the lost funds. Notably, the bank has expressed its intention not to pursue legal action against students who withdrew funds that were not rightfully theirs.
Efforts to reach a bank spokesperson for further comment on the matter were unsuccessful at the time of reporting. The incident has raised concerns about the security and stability of Ethiopia's banking infrastructure, prompting calls for enhanced safeguards to prevent similar occurrences in the future.
