A Moroccan Company, S2M, has won the bid to form a joint electronic payment system for three Ethiopian banks. Awash International Bank, NIB International Bank and United Bank formed Premier Switch Solutions SC which will use S2M to integrate their ATM services.
Fourteen international firms took part in the bid according to Berhanu Getaneh President of United Bank.
S2M is expected to form a system that will enable ATM holders at the three banks to withdraw money at all ATM machines operated by members of the Premier Switch.
The banks hope to begin joint ATM services to their customers within the next months, while debit card services will be operational in six months.
Joint services are expected to include POS, e-commerce, call centre services as well as credit card and debit card services. The structure of the new system will allow other banks to join in the future.
The new system is part of the integrated banking system that the three banks agreed to create when they formed Premier Switch Solutions in 2009.
Premier Switch Solutions will be based at the Awash Bank and Insurance headquarters. It was established with a capital of 30 million birr and has a current capital of 165 million birr.
The costs of the new project have not been disclosed due to confidentiality elements in the deal.
S2M is a pioneer in credit card applications in Morocco and has international operations in over 40 countries. An estimated 120 public and private banks depend on S2M solutions.
Source: Capital
