SantimPay Financial Solutions has officially commenced the assembly of Point of Sale (POS) machines in Ethiopia, marking a step toward reducing reliance on imported payment technology. The inauguration ceremony was held today at the Science Museum and attended by Dr. Belete Molla, Minister of Innovation and Technology, alongside senior executives from the banking sector.

According to the company, the new POS assembly plant has the capacity to assemble up to 3,000 units per day at full operation. The machines support five languages and are designed to serve the needs of Ethiopia’s growing digital payment sector.

SantimPay CEO Tnisae Desalegn noted that assembling POS machines locally could reduce their price by up to 10 percent and eliminate the need to send devices abroad for maintenance, as a service center has also been established alongside the factory. 

The company has already started supplying machines to banks and businesses and is preparing to export to other African markets. Ethiopia currently has fewer than 20,000 POS terminals, many of which are non-functional due to high import and maintenance costs.

In addition, SantimPay has introduced a new payment switch, OpenWay, in partnership with UAE based Sanu Pay. This system is expected to enable services such as credit cards and virtual cards, services that have not yet been widely introduced in Ethiopia.

Officials believe the initiative will support Ethiopia’s goal of advancing its cashless payment system while reducing foreign currency expenditure on imported payment devices and systems.

Source (including image): Sheger FM 102.1