Payment Instrument Issuer — Ethiopia

The Ethiopia category mapped to e-money issuance.

National Bank of Ethiopia licence to issue payment instruments (electronic money / mobile-money wallets) and hold customer funds, under the Licensing and Authorization of Payment Instrument Issuers Directive No. ONPS/09/2023 (Art. 2). The register labels issuers either 'MOBILE MONEY SERVICES & USE OF AGENTS' or 'Payment Instrument Issuer'; the per-entity label is kept on each fact. A separate closed-loop 'limited-use payment instrument' registration tier exists (ONPS/09/2023 Part VI Art. 14) with no registered entity today.

Maintained: this official source is re-checked on a weekly schedule — last checked 2026-08-04 · changed 2026-08-04.

Licensed providers

6 entities

#	Provider	Status (as reported)	Licensed / granted	Source	Source date
1	Ethiotelecom (also written Telebirr)	licensed	2021-04-23	National Bank of Ethiopia	not dated
2	Kacha Digital Financial Services S.C	licensed	2022-06-16	National Bank of Ethiopia	not dated
3	Safaricom Ethiopia PLC (also written M-PESA)	licensed	2023-05-10	National Bank of Ethiopia	not dated
4	ToloPay Financial Technology S.C	licensed	2025-06-03	National Bank of Ethiopia	not dated
5	Vitabirr Financial Services S.C	licensed	2025-07-15	National Bank of Ethiopia	not dated
6	Yaya Payment Instrument Issuer S.C	licensed	2023-10-13	National Bank of Ethiopia	not dated

Reading the tables

not dated: — the official source publishes no date of its own. We show our own last-checked date instead of inventing one for the regulator.

Licence requirements

What it takes to hold this licence, as stated in the cited official instruments. Capital and fees are shown in the currency the statute itself uses.

Requirement	As published	Source	Source date
Minimum capital	Birr 50,000,000 (fifty million birr) paid-up, contributed in cash and deposited in a blocked account with a bank in the name of the issuer under formation; a foreign national pays it in foreign currency. Verbatim “A minimum paid-up capital of Birr 50,000,000 (fifty million birr) or equivalent in foreign currency shall be contributed in cash and the amount shall be deposited in a blocked account with a bank in the name of the payment instrument issuer under formation.”	Licensing and Authorization of Payment Instrument Issuers Directive No. ONPS/09/2023 (operative PII base; repeals ONPS/01/2020, 03/2021, 06/2022)	2023-10-06
Local presence / incorporation	A company formed in Ethiopia (or an eligible subsidiary of a telecom operator, payment instrument issuer, payment system operator or bank incorporated under Ethiopian law), with a memorandum of association in Amharic and English approved by the National Bank before registration. Verbatim “the subsidiary shall be incorporated and registered in accordance with relevant laws of the country … a memorandum of association written both in Amharic and English. The memorandum of association shall be approved by the National Bank before registration with the appropriate government body.”	Licensing and Authorization of Payment Instrument Issuers Directive No. ONPS/09/2023 (operative PII base; repeals ONPS/01/2020, 03/2021, 06/2022)	2023-10-06
Timeline	Not officially published: No fixed number of days within which the National Bank must grant or refuse a payment-instrument-issuer application is published in this directive.	Licensing and Authorization of Payment Instrument Issuers Directive No. ONPS/09/2023 (operative PII base; repeals ONPS/01/2020, 03/2021, 06/2022)	2023-10-06
Local ownership	Not officially published: Foreign-national equity participation in a PII is governed by ONPS/04/2021 (a foreign national pays the minimum capital in foreign currency); this directive sets no general ownership-percentage cap for a payment-instrument issuer.	Licensing and Authorization of Payment Instrument Issuers Directive No. ONPS/09/2023 (operative PII base; repeals ONPS/01/2020, 03/2021, 06/2022)	2023-10-06
Fees	Not officially published: A foreign-national applicant pays an investment-protection fee to the government, but the amount is set by the National Bank from time to time and is not fixed in this directive.	Licensing and Authorization of Payment Instrument Issuers Directive No. ONPS/09/2023 (operative PII base; repeals ONPS/01/2020, 03/2021, 06/2022)	2023-10-06
Ongoing obligations	Not officially published: Operational policies and procedures approved by the National Bank; interoperability and instant-payment obligations were added by the ONPS/10/2025 amendment (definitions 33–37). No single quantitative ongoing-obligation figure is published.	Payment Instrument Issuer (Amendment) Directive No. ONPS/10/2025 (adds definitions 33–37 to Art. 2; interoperability + instant-payment obligations)	2025-05

Requirements as published in the cited instruments — not legal or compliance advice. Where a value is located but not yet verified, we show that it exists but don't publish the figure. Verify directly with the regulator.

The equivalent in other markets

Categories mapped to the same normalized activity — fintech:EMONEY_ISSUE:

Cross-border rules for Ethiopia →