Looking to bring unbanked sections of the Ethiopian population into the formal financial sector and enable low-cost credit and savings service, Ethio Telecom has partnered with Dashen Bank to launch telebirr digital financial services. Micro loan, overdraft and micro saving are services to be offered in partnership with the 25-year-old bank as per a permit given by the National Bank of Ethiopia.
Accordingly, Ethio Telecom offers three different financial services, namely telebirr Mela (micro credit), enabling customers to borrow money for any transaction or withdrawal, telebirr Endekise (credit pay/ overdraft service), permitting users to borrow up to ETB2,000 in an emergency transaction, and telebirr Sanduq (micro savings service). The services are accessible on the telebirr app as well as by dialing *127#.