- Ethiopia has launched its first locally issued credit card through a partnership between Sanupay and OpenWay.
- This marks Ethiopia’s move to diversify beyond mobile money into more traditional digital payment tools.
- The credit card will operate on Ethiopia’s national payment switch, allowing full interoperability with banks and POS systems.
- OpenWay’s Way4 platform, used by global banks, underpins the infrastructure powering the card.
Ethiopia has launched its first domestic credit card, a move that signals the country’s growing ambition to modernise its financial sector and join East Africa’s digital payment revolution. This new offering is the result of a partnership between SanuPay, a payment processor, and OpenWay, a Belgian software provider.
This initiative sets Ethiopia on a new path in a region dominated by mobile money solutions like Kenya’s M-Pesa. While Ethiopia’s mobile money platform, Telebirr, has seen strong adoption since its launch in 2021, with over 51 million users and billions of dollars in transaction volume, credit cards remain a rarity in the country.
The introduction of this domestic credit card adds a new layer to Ethiopia’s digital finance options. It allows banks to issue credit cards linked to local currency accounts, enabling customers to transact easily. It also allows full interoperability between banks, automated teller machines (ATMs), and point-of-sale (POS) systems.
SanuPay, the lead issuer, is a payment processor headquartered and licensed in the UAE. For this rollout, it is partnering with OpenWay’s Way4 platform, which provides end-to-end solutions for issuing, acquiring, switching, and mobile wallets.
SanuPay will issue four million debit and prepaid cards as well as 5,000 Visa and Mastercard credit cards while operating 10,000 point-of-sale (POS) terminals and 200 ATMs nationwide. All these will run on Way4. Oromia Bank is expected to issue the first set of domestic credit cards.
“We have selected the best-in-class solution to provide best-in-class payment services in Ethiopia. Partnering with OpenWay and deploying Way4 enables a resilient, scalable, and compliant infrastructure that supports Africa’s digital financial transformation,” Alfred Gachaga, CEO at SanuPay, said.
Compared to regional leaders like Kenya, where mobile and card payments are more mature, Ethiopia’s financial system has largely remained cash-based. But this launch positions it to catch up by offering alternatives that are secure, inclusive, and local.
The card’s release could especially benefit the country’s unbanked and underbanked populations, providing access to credit and digital payments in a system that avoids the costs and limitations of international platforms.
With support from the central bank and growing fintech partnerships, Ethiopia’s payment ecosystem is evolving, offering hope for a more diversified and inclusive digital economy.
