One of Ethiopia’s top payment companies, SantimPay Financial Solutions S.C., has teamed up with the Bank of Abyssinia to introduce FrankRemit, a digital remittance service.
The service, which was unveiled on Wednesday at the Hilton Hotel, allows international transfers from almost every nation and has been integrated with all Ethiopian banks as well as mobile money services like M-Pesa, Telebirr, and CBE Birr, making it the first in Ethiopia to integrate major mobile money services.
“FrankRemit is the first platform to offer full integration across Ethiopia’s banking and mobile money landscape,” said Tinsae Desalegn, SatimPay’s CEO. “We built this platform to address the frustrations of the diaspora and make sending money home effortless.”
Services offered by SatimPay
With no transaction fees, Santimpay’s new service promises to enable remittance transfers in a matter of minutes. In order to use the service, which is accessible via web app and smartphone, users will require a Mastercard or Visa card.
FrankRemit also introduces the FrankCard, a diaspora-focused gift card service created in partnership with Oromia Bank and Shoa Supermarket, as part of its wider offerings. This new feature enables direct support to families beyond traditional cash transfers by allowing members of the Ethiopian diaspora to send prepaid cards that can be used locally.
“It took us nearly a year to develop the platform,” Tinsae Desalegn, CEO of SantimPay, stated.
He claimed that to guarantee flawless service, FrankRemit has undergone extensive testing over the last two weeks with transfers from multiple nations. Additionally, Tinsae mentioned that FrankRemit will not be collaborating with independent forex bureaus at this time.
Development of remittance market in Ethiopia
A few companies, including the preponderantly state-owned Ethio telecom, have entered the remittance market in the ten months since Ethiopia switched to a market-based exchange regime policy. While Safaricom Ethiopia, the other telecom provider in the nation, has announced plans to enter the market, CashGo and other established operators have also updated their features to accommodate the floated currency.
In Ethiopia’s past, digital remittance services have had difficulty operating; three years ago, the central bank temporarily banned them. As SantimPay expands beyond its primary function as a payment operator, it hopes to become a powerful player in the nascent digital remittance industry. The company is going to access a market that has given Ethiopia a significant amount of money in the last nine months—nearly $5.1 billion.
The nearly three-year-old payment operator was able to process transactions totaling about 18 billion Birr during the 2023–2024 fiscal year. After launching a local fundraising platform for community-based finance six months ago, SantimPay is actively growing its service portfolio.
Additionally, it is intensifying its efforts to establish itself as a significant player in Ethiopia’s nascent Point-of-Sale (PoS) market. To encourage early use of the new digital remittance platform, the company is providing 15 percent bonuses.
The launch coincides with Ethiopia approaching the one-year mark since implementing a market-based exchange rate regime, a change made in July 2024 to bring the nation’s foreign exchange operations into line with market conditions.
Ambassador Fitsum Abegaz claims that, although industries like coffee and gold exports have greatly benefited from this change in policy, remittance inflows are still trailing behind.
“FrankRemit is built to international standards and will help Ethiopia unlock greater remittance flows,” he said, emphasising the platform’s strategic role in strengthening the country’s foreign currency position.
High-level public and private sector stakeholders attended the official launch event, demonstrating the platform’s importance to Ethiopia’s economic goals.
Teferi Mekonnen, CEO of Oromia Bank; Fitsum Abegaz, Ambassador at the Ethiopian Embassy in Washington, D.C., and Director General of Diaspora Services at the Foreign Ministry; Desalegn Yizengaw, Chief Customer Acquisition and Support at BoA; and Tinsae Desalegn, CEO of SantimPay, were among those present.
FrankRemit is an indigenous fintech invention that has been thoroughly tested over the last two weeks with successful transfers from several nations. This rollout guarantees that users will immediately experience safe, dependable, and quick money transfers.