EthSwitch Posts ETB 2.6B Profit as Digital Payments Grow

In Short

• EthSwitch reported ETB 2.6 billion gross profit before tax for the 2025/26 financial year.
• It processed 387 million interoperable transactions worth ETB 1.26 trillion.
• P2P transfers led volumes, while ETHQR usage also grew.

What Happened

EthSwitch, Ethiopia’s national payments switch, says it made a gross profit before tax of ETB 2.6 billion in FY2025/26. A payments switch is shared infrastructure that connects banks and payment providers so money can move between them.

The company processed 387 million interoperable transactions worth ETB 1.26 trillion. “Interoperable” means a user at one bank or wallet can send or pay a user on another, similar to how phone networks interconnect.

Person-to-person transfers dominated activity. EthSwitch reported 242.6 million P2P transactions valued at ETB 1.06 trillion. ATM interoperability delivered 131.5 million transactions worth ETB 189.2 billion. Point-of-sale payments reached 3.9 million transactions valued at ETB 10.7 billion.

On QR payments, transactions via the ETHQR platform passed 551,000 with total value of ETB 6.8 billion. QR payments let customers scan a code to pay, similar to scanning a barcode at checkout.

EthSwitch also launched a new five-year strategic plan for 2026/27 to 2030/31. During the year, it completed the migration of all P2P transfers to the EthioPay Instant Payment System, or IPS, which supports real-time payments, meaning transfers settle in seconds.

The EthioPay IPS was recognised by AfricaNenda as a mature instant payment system. EthSwitch said the platform processed more than one million P2P transactions in a single day, worth ETB 5.1 billion.

Why It Matters

EthSwitch’s numbers point to rising demand for real-time and cross-institution digital payments in Ethiopia. Higher interoperability usually reduces friction for consumers and merchants, and it can lower reliance on cash.

The mix of volumes also shows where growth may come next. P2P is already strong, but POS and QR payments are still comparatively small, which suggests room for merchant acceptance to expand.

For fintechs and banks, a mature instant payment rail can enable new products like faster bill payments, payroll, and merchant settlement. EthSwitch’s conferences and CEO workshops also suggest more coordination across regulators, banks, and payment providers as the market scales.