The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) has further tightened security, raised capital thresholds, and introduced transactional limits in its amended directive for licensing and authorizing payment instrument issuers. This amendment comes less than two years after the initial issuance of the previous directive.
The amended Directive to Oversight of the National Payment System (ONPS) number 10/2025, has doubled wallet transaction limits and introduced specific caps on personal and merchant payments.
With aggregate daily transaction limits for digital accounts rising from 150,000 in the 2023 directive to 300,000 birr and daily balance ceilings increasing from 75,000 to 150,000 birr, the NBE is expanding the operational scope for high-volume users and small businesses.
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However, this flexibility comes with added structure. For the first time, the directive imposes defined caps on person-to-person and merchant payments, set at 75,000 birr and 250,000 birr respectively.
The 2025 directive also significantly raises the financial bar for new entrants to the digital finance space. Minimum capital requirements have doubled—from 50 million to 100 million birr—raising the threshold for market participation and encouraging better-resourced, more sustainable players.
The revised directive goes further than just financial limits. It enforces a tighter security regime by lowering the two-factor authentication threshold from 15,000 birr to 5,000 birr. This change signals a broader shift from a risk-tiered model to a more precautionary, risk-averse approach.
