Ethio telecom, dedicated to serving a great nation and people by making telecom and digital services widely accessible, continues to strengthen its pivotal role in the country’s comprehensive communication and digital journey. Going beyond standard telecom connectivity, it is playing a significant role in the digital solutions and digital finance sectors, thereby contributing significant share to the acceleration of national digital transformation and the realization of an inclusive digital economy.
In this regard, beyond acquiring more than 57.59 million subscribers via the telebirr digital service, the platform has been instrumental in introducing micro digital credit and savings services capable of bringing meaningful economic impact to society since its inception. In collaboration with partner banks, Ethio telecom has disbursed over ETB 31.6 billion in digital loans to 15 million customers and created an enabling environment for more than 4.71 million customers to save over ETB 30.3 billion.
Today, in accordance with the direction set in its ‘NEXT HORIZON: Digital and Beyond 2028 Strategy’ to widely provide digital financial services with partners, the company announced the launch of ‘Tila’ in collaboration with Awash Bank, the pioneer in Ethiopia’s private banking history. This service introduces non-collateral credit as well as device financing, enabling customers to own smartphones through long-term payment options.
‘Tila’ is a micro non-collateral credit and savings service. It enables individual customers residing in both rural and urban areas, employees of private and government institutions whose salaries are paid via telebirr and Awash Bank, as well as micro, small and medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and merchants, to access credit services based on an artificial intelligence-assisted credit scoring model, simply by being telebirr and Ethio telecom service users.
Digital Financial Services Under the Partnership Agreement includes:
1. ‘Tila’ Micro Saving Service
This service enables customers to save any amount of money from anywhere via telebirr, offering the option to utilize either non-interest-bearing or interest-bearing saving options.
2. ‘Tila’ Personal Micro Credit
This service enables individual customers to access micro personal credit of up to ETB 16,000, determined based on their telebirr transaction history:
- Loans up to ETB 5,000, repayable within 15 days
- Loans up to ETB 12,000, repayable within 40 days
- Unsecured microfinance loans up to ETB 16,000, repayable within 75 days
3. Employees’ Salary Loan
This option enables employees of private and government institutions, including Ethio telecom and Awash Bank staff, whose monthly salaries are paid via telebirr and Awash Bank, to access a loan of up to ETB 1 million, equivalent to six months’ salary, to be repaid over 16 months.
4. Loan Services for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
This non-collateral, micro-credit service enables MSMEs, merchants, and agents to start or expand their businesses and create employment opportunities.
The credit limit is determined based on their telebirr transaction volume:
- One-month loans up to ETB 50,000
- Three-month loans up to ETB 90,000
- Six-month loans up to ETB 150,000—all without collateral
An agreement has been reached to provide a total annual credit supply of over ETB 2 billion for these services.
5. Device Financing Service
Today, Ethio telecom has reached a device financing agreement with Awash Bank to supply smart devices to citizens through various long-term payment options. The service enables citizens—particularly those engaged in agriculture, as well as employees, merchants, and agents—to acquire various telecom devices bundled with SIM cards on an installment basis.
The device financing service enables citizens who are unable to access digital and digital financial services due to the high cost of smartphones to acquire devices at affordable prices through long-term payment options. Beyond this, the service significantly contributes to making digital financial services inclusive and accessible to the agrarian and pastoralist communities in rural areas where financial services have remained limited.
6. Cardless ATM & School Pay
This cardless service was implemented earlier, enabling customers to withdraw cash from Awash Bank ATMs using only telebirr. Designed to ensure customer convenience, the feature has been successfully operationalized on a trial basis over the past few months.
During this pilot period alone, over 92.6 thousand transactions were recorded, facilitating the withdrawal of more than ETB 97.3 million. Additionally, by integrating Awash Bank’s “School Pay” into the telebirr SuperApp, customers can now conveniently settle school fees.
With the aim of increasing access to digital financial services by driving smartphone penetration, Ethio telecom recently introduced ‘znexus’ cloud-based smart devices at affordable prices. Moving forward, it will continue to strengthen its efforts in building an inclusive digital economy by deepening its partnerships with financial institutions and introducing innovative digital finance and device financing services designed to bridge the usage gap and improve the day-to-day lives of communities.
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