Bank of Abyssinia and Visa Sign New Agreement to Accelerate Digital Payments in Ethiopia

EBR_News Mar 12, 2026

By Betegbar Yaregal

Bank of Abyssinia and Visa have signed a new agreement to strengthen their long-standing partnership and accelerate the growth of digital payment solutions across Ethiopia, according to an announcement made at the bank’s head office in Addis Ababa.

The agreement will support the continued expansion of Visa products issued by Bank of Abyssinia while enabling the bank to enhance customer experiences through advanced digital payment capabilities.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Yared Endale, Cluster Head for Eastern Africa at Visa, said the agreement marks an important milestone in the companies’ five-year relationship. “Ethiopia is an important and rapidly evolving market, and Visa remains committed to working closely with leading financial institutions to support the growth of the digital payments ecosystem.

Yared also said that Ethiopia’s digital transformation is at its peak, with payment transactions expected to reach 20 trillion birr, describing the current moment as “a very exciting time” for the industry.

Sosina Mengesha, Chief Digital Banking Officer at Bank of Abyssinia, said the agreement represents a significant opportunity for the bank to accelerate its growth exponentially. “We have been working with Visa for almost five years. We have also started issuing digital cards with Visa.

What makes our agreement unique is that it allows us to focus on our previous work together and accelerate our growth in an exponential way.

The agreement is a great opportunity for us, as it is a great opportunity to be competitive and keep up with the times in the digital era that is growing in our country,” she said.

Sosina highlighted that the bank has developed a new strategy giving unprecedented attention to digitalization an approach no other Ethiopian bank has pursued with similar scale and focus.

Bank of Abyssinia was a pioneer as a principal Visa member acquiring ATM and POS services and continues to expand its payment menu through various digital initiatives to create greater convenience for customers.

The Bank said through this agreement, it will continue investing in premium products and strengthening its digital banking offering while leveraging Visa’s global payment network, technology, and expertise.

The collaboration also supports the expansion of secure payment acceptance and cross-border payment capabilities, helping Ethiopian consumers and merchants participate more fully in the global digital economy.