Prson-to-person transfers account for 85 percent of payment value, while POS and QR transac7tions remain limited despite expanding national infrastructure.
Person-to-person transfers accounted for nearly 85 percent of the 7.8 billion US dollars in transactions processed through Ethiopia’s national electronic payments switch during the 2025/26 financial year, highlighting the concentration of activity in direct money transfers as merchant payments remain a small part of the interoperable network.
EthSwitch, the operator of the national payments infrastructure, reported processing 387 million interoperable transactions during the year, with person-to-person (P2P) transfers accounting for 242.6 million transactions valued at approximately 6.6 billion US dollars.
The transfers represented nearly 63 percent of total reported transaction volumes, reflecting the scale of payments moving between customers of participating financial institutions.
By comparison, point-of-sale (POS) transactions reached just 3.9 million, worth approximately 66.5 million US dollars, while payments through the ETHQR platform totalled 551,500 transactions valued at 42.2 million US dollars.
Combined, the two merchant payment channels accounted for approximately 4.45 million transactions, equivalent to just 1.2 percent of the total volume processed through the national switch.
Automated teller machine (ATM) transactions remained the second-largest category, with 131.5 million transactions worth approximately 1.2 billion US dollars.
The figures show that transfers between individuals and ATM withdrawals continue to account for most activity on the interoperable network, while payments made directly to merchants represent a much smaller share.
However, the data cover transactions processed through EthSwitch rather than all digital payments conducted across Ethiopia. Payments processed within individual banks and other payment-service providers may not be reflected in the reported totals.
The four disclosed transaction categories account for approximately 378.6 million transactions, leaving about 8.4 million transactions outside the breakdown provided by the company.
EthSwitch also reported gross profit before tax of approximately 16.1 million US dollars during the financial year. Comparative earnings figures were not included in the information released.
The results come as Ethiopia continues to develop the infrastructure connecting banks and other payment-service providers, with interoperability forming part of efforts to expand access to digital financial services.
EthSwitch said its EthioPay Instant Payment System (IPS) had processed more than one million P2P transactions in a single day, with a combined value of approximately 31.7 million US dollars.
The company has also completed the migration of P2P transfers to the instant-payment platform, allowing participating financial institutions to process transfers through shared real-time infrastructure.
The migration represents a further stage in the development of Ethiopia’s national payment system, which is intended to enable transactions between customers using different financial institutions and payment-service providers.
Interoperable payment infrastructure allows institutions to exchange payment instructions through a common network rather than relying exclusively on separate systems or direct arrangements between individual providers.
For consumers, the infrastructure supports transfers across participating institutions. For businesses, it can provide the foundation for merchant collections, digital payments and other financial transactions.
The expansion of the national switch follows broader changes in Ethiopia’s financial sector, including the growth of mobile money services and the development of digital payment channels by commercial banks and other providers.
In November 2025, the AfricaNenda Foundation upgraded Ethiopia’s instant-payment system from the “Basic” to the “Progressed” level in its State of Inclusive Instant Payment Systems in Africa 2025 report.
The classification assesses instant-payment systems using criteria that include interoperability, institutional participation, supported payment services and conditions affecting financial inclusion.
EthSwitch has separately stated that AfricaNenda recognised its instant-payment platform as a matured platform. However, the description differs from the formal “Progressed” classification in the 2025 report, and the company has not clarified whether it refers to a separate assessment.
The distinction reflects the different measures used to evaluate payment infrastructure. Transaction volumes indicate the scale of activity, while assessments of inclusivity also consider affordability, accessibility, consumer protection and the range of available payment services.
EthSwitch has since officially launched the EthioPay brand and introduced a five-year corporate strategic plan covering the 2026/27 to 2030/31 financial years.
The strategy will guide the company’s operations during a period in which Ethiopia is expanding its digital financial infrastructure and developing additional payment services.
The latest transaction figures provide a breakdown of how the national switch is currently being used.
P2P transfers alone generated approximately 6.6 billion US dollars in transaction value, compared with a combined 108.7 million US dollars processed through POS and ETHQR channels.
This means the value of P2P transfers was more than 60 times the combined value of transactions processed through the two merchant payment channels.
The difference illustrates the concentration of activity within EthSwitch’s interoperable network, although it does not establish the overall level of merchant payment adoption across the country’s financial system.
AfricaNenda is scheduled to release the 2026 edition of its State of Inclusive Instant Payment Systems in Africa report in Mauritius on November 19, providing an updated assessment of instant-payment infrastructure across African markets.
The forthcoming report will offer a new reference point for evaluating Ethiopia’s progress since its 2025 classification, including developments following the migration of P2P transactions to EthioPay-IPS.
For EthSwitch, the latest financial-year results establish the scale of transactions processed through the national network, while the distribution of activity shows that direct transfers remain its principal use.
The company’s new five-year strategy will provide the framework for its next phase of operations, including the development of payment services beyond person-to-person transfers.