The Commercial Bank of Ethiopia has revealed that about its 15,000 customers have willingly returned the money they withdrew illegally during a technical glitch it experienced.
With the development, Ethiopia’s largest bank has recouped about 80 per cent of the cash it lost during a technical glitch that gave the customers advantage to withdraw more money in their accounts.
Last week, the bank encountered a breakdown in the network caused by a “routine system update and inspection”
The incident has made people, who are the majority of the university students that have accounts with the Ethiopian bank, withdraw more money than what they kept.
President of the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, Abe Sano, told reporters Tuesday that around $14 million was withdrawn or digitally transferred during the error.
He said the value of the transactions ranged from 9 cents to $5,350, while the amount lost initially was reported as $40 million.
Sano, however, said the Ethiopian bank published the names of the culprits, on Tuesday, compelling them to return the money voluntarily.
He, however, said 567 individuals have not yet returned money that is not theirs.
Sano said their names and account details were posted online, in an apparent attempt to shame them into giving it back.
“The total amount remaining is not significant for the bank, but if this money is not fully recouped, it sends the wrong message,” Sano said.
The bank added that the glitch was not a cyber attack as initially reported on social media.