EthSwitch, Ethiopia’s national payment switch, said its instant payment platform processed more than one million transactions in a single day, marking a milestone in the country’s push to expand digital payments and financial inclusion.
The platform, EthioPay-IPS, handled transactions worth more than five billion Birr on the record day, according to a statement released by the switch operator and its technology partner, BPC, a global payments software company.
The announcement comes as Ethiopia accelerates efforts to modernize its financial sector and expand digital financial services. The country has introduced a series of reforms in recent years aimed at increasing interoperability among banks, mobile money providers and other payment service operators.
The efforts at digitalization are quickly gaining momentum. In 2024/25, digital transactions surpassed ATM withdrawals for the first time.
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EthSwitch, which is owned by the National Bank of Ethiopia alongside commercial banks, microfinance institutions, payment instrument issuers and payment system operators, operates the national payments infrastructure that connects financial institutions across the country.
Yilebes Addis, chief executive of EthSwitch, said the one-million-transaction threshold demonstrated growing demand for interoperable instant payment services among financial institutions, businesses and consumers.
“As EthSwitch builds Ethiopia’s national digital payments infrastructure, reaching one million EthioPay-IPS transactions in a single day marks a significant milestone for the country’s payments ecosystem,” he said in the statement.
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EthSwitch attributed the growth to wider adoption of digital payment channels and increasing interoperability across Ethiopia’s financial system.
The EthioPay-IPS platform, built on BPC’s SmartVista technology, enables real-time account-to-account and wallet-to-wallet transfers, interoperable QR-code payments, request-to-pay services, recurring payments and other digital transaction services. It also supports payments for utilities, taxes and government services through a shared payments network.
The system is designed to allow customers of different financial institutions to transact seamlessly using bank accounts, mobile wallets, payment cards and digital payment links.
DahlakYigezu, BPC’s country manager for Ethiopia, said the transaction milestone reflected the continued expansion of the country’s digital payments ecosystem.
“We are proud to celebrate this milestone alongside EthSwitch,” he said.
The milestone highlights the growing role of interoperable payment infrastructure in Ethiopia, where policymakers and financial institutions have sought to reduce cash dependence and broaden access to formal financial services through digital channels.