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» To improve the operations of the formal remittance service in
Ethiopia
» To reduce the costs of remittance transfer system in Ethiopia
» To increase access of international remittance service for
Nationals and make the service reliable, fast and safe.
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International Remittance Transfer by Nationals means monetary
transfers that overseas Ethiopians and foreign nationals of
Ethiopian origin make money transfers to their home country
through Remittance Service Providers (RSPs).
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Remittance Service Providers are licensed transfer houses that
provide remittance service to customers either directly by banks
via SWIFT or through money transferring agents working in
association with banks.
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SWIFT is a secured telecommunication system serving members and
the financial community. The word SWIFT represents Society for
Worldwide Inter-bank Financial Telecommunication. It is a
reliable and less costly method to transfer money. All banks in
Ethiopia use the system to effect monetary transaction.
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Banks have two important secret codes called Bank Identifier
Code (BIC) and International Bank Account Number (IBAN), which
help them to communicate and provide safe service. While the
former is the unique address, which helps banks to identify the
financial institutions during telecommunication messages, the
latter is a code that uniquely identifies an account held in
correspondent banks.
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To minimize the cost of international remittance transfer
service in Ethiopia and to make market structure more
commutative:
» RSPS shall arrange non-exclusive conditions when making agency
agreements between them;
» Contractual agreements between RSPs shall be renewed every two
years upon receipt of consent from NBE;
» RSPs shall charge zero or minimum tariff on remittance transfer
service and shall disclose same including any change thereof to
NBE;
» RSPs need to obtain approval from the NBE before entering into
new agency agreement with international money transferring
operators.
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The following are the major transfer types contained in the
international remittance
transfer: -
Personal transfers
Money to be used for investment
International cash donations
Deposit and service payments
Temporary and permanent migrants transfer.
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Users of this system can obtain information from Access points
such as
a. Bank branches
b. Post offices
c. NBE’s and commercial banks' and Ministry of Foreign Affairs
websites
d. Brochures
e. Telephone etc.
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The following institutions/organizations are legally eligible
institutions to provide low
cost international remittance service in Ethiopia.
a) International money transfers operators in association with
banks, which are licensed entities to provide money-transferring
services internationally. These are Western Union, Money Gram,
Maniflo, and Adam Funds etc;
b) Commercial banks, which are, licensed business organizations
to provide financial intermediation;
c) Non-Financial organizations, which are business organizations
that are allowed to engage in remittance services through their
branches overseas. These are:
» Ethiopian Airlines (EAL) and
» Ethiopian Shipping Lines (ESL).
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Yes, to protect customers of this service, Remittance Service
Providers (RSPs) have the following obligations:
» Reveal terms and tariffs applicable to remittance service
including their correspondent bank, agent fees and other
different types of service they provide;
» Indicate the estimated time that it will take the money to
reach the receiver;
» The exchange rate that RSPs employed to convert the foreign
currency to domestic currency and vise- versa;
» Facilitate remittance transfer service to their customers and
provide the service within 24 hours.
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» Official business license authenticated by the Ethiopian Embassy/counselor abroad
» Agency agreement signed between RSP and domestic commercial
banks
For further information, please visit domestic commercial banks
and their branches or call the contact person as indicated here.
National Bank of Ethiopia
Tel +251 115 517430
Fax +251 115 514588
Email: nbe.excd@telecom.net.et
P.O. Box: 5550
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia