M-PESA Ethiopia and Awash Bank Unveil Mobile Overdraft to Boost Financial Inclusion
The collaboration brings together two of Ethiopia’s leading financial players to deliver digital credit directly through mobile phones, enabling users to complete transactions even when their wallet balance is insufficient.
In a bid to expand access to credit and deepen financial inclusion, Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia PLC , through its mobile money platform M-PESA Ethiopia, has partnered with Awash Bank to launch a new overdraft service dubbed Errif be M-PESA. The service is available to customers who have been actively using M-PESA for at least 90 days.
The collaboration brings together two of Ethiopia’s leading financial players to deliver digital credit directly through mobile phones, enabling users to complete transactions even when their wallet balance is insufficient. This includes services such as airtime purchase, bill payments, and merchant transactions.
Awash Bank, one of Ethiopia’s most established private banks, brings its digital banking expertise into the partnership. Safaricom Ethiopia, which launched M-PESA in 2023, continues to broaden its offerings as it builds a digital financial ecosystem in the country.
In a statement, M-PESA Ethiopia emphasised the strategic nature of the collaboration, noting it reflects both institutions’ shared vision of delivering more accessible, secure, and inclusive financial services.
With this rollout, M-PESA Ethiopia and Awash Bank are taking a significant step toward improving liquidity and access to microloans for underserved and unbanked populations, supporting Ethiopia’s broader push for a digitally empowered economy.
