In addition to VISA, MasterCard and UnionPay, the Ethiopian Bank, Dashen Bank, will be accepting American Express Cards starting from Saturday, July 26, 2014. Nonetheless, the service will at first be accessible only for those who have acquired the card from foreign banks.

The new service will allow American Express holders to get the service at Dashen Bank’s ATMs and POS terminals. In situations where the ATMs are functioning or when lines at the Bank are long, card holders can issue a receipt for the amount of money they need from encashment POS terminals available at the Bank’s branches. Commenting on this, Estifanos Befekadu, Head of the Promotion Division at the Bank, said clients that present the receipt will be given priority.

The deal Dashen made will also enable it’s local clients get access to American Express. This service, according to Fortune, will be started on September.

Estifanos noted, this is a profitable business as Dashen has discovered with the other cards already in business.

According to Fortune, transactions of the VISA card through ATM and POS outlets have reached 3.6 billion Br, as well as generating 100 million dollars in foreign currency.

In related news, the Bank is underway in its bid to launch mobile and agent banking. According to Estifanos, the Bank will start the latter service in the coming three months, which will be followed by internet banking.

Source: Fortune