Payment instrument issuers, including ethio telecom, can now involve in remittance service and partner with wire-transfer companies. This is a departure from the past where only banks and the Ethiopian Postal Service were allowed to give remittance services.
The decision will enable ethio telecom and new entrants warming up to a payment instrument issuer use their platform to attract customers in the diaspora.
The new rule came into force seven months after the central bank issued a directive to give a license for entities other than licensed financial institutions to issue a payment instrument.
Applicants are required to have a minimum paid-up capital of five million Birr to provide such a service.