Commercial Bank of Ethiopia names and shames customers over bank glitch money

BBC Online :
An Ethiopian bank has put up posters shaming customers it says have not returned money they gained during a technical glitch.

Notices bearing their names and photos could be seen outside branches of the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) on Friday.

The bank says it has recovered almost three-quarters of the $14m (£12m) it lost, its head said last week.

He warned that those keeping money that is not theirs will be prosecuted.
Last month, an hours-long glitch allowed customers at the CBE, Ethiopia’s largest commercial bank, to withdraw or transfer more than they had in their accounts.

Most of the money was reportedly withdrawn by university students and 490,000 transactions were made before CBE realised there was a problem.

One student at Jimma University in western Ethiopia told the BBC’s Amharic service: “I know someone who bought a smart phone and a laptop and has no money at hand to return.

“There are some who bought internet packages for a year and others who paid off their debts.”

Since the CBE demanded the money be returned and threatened those who don’t do so with arrest, thousands have voluntarily given back excess funds, the bank said.

Outside a CBE branch in the capital, Addis Ababa, a poster displaying the images of 28 people reads: “Those who did not return the money they inappropriately took from Commercial Bank of Ethiopia.”

The identities of those who have allegedly kept the money are also displayed on the bank’s website, accompanied by their bank account numbers.