← Digital Banking and Fintech Integration

How digital payments work

Module 02 / 5 · 55 min

What happens behind a tap or a scan: account-to-account, wallet-to-bank and merchant payments, and how institutions settle through EthSwitch and the NBE.

In this module you will learn to

Trace a digital payment through authorization, clearing and settlement
Explain account-to-account, wallet-to-bank and merchant payment flows
Calculate a simple net settlement position between two banks
Explain why a payment can be debited but not credited, and how it is reversed

Built on

Erudite Africa Ethiopian context module, topic 1.h Digital Banking and Fintech Integration, Level 1 Beginner (October 2026)
NBE Proclamation No. 1359/2025, NBE Directive ONPS/09/2023 and NBE Instruction FCPED/142/26, as cited in the lessons
National Payment System Proclamation No. 718/2011 as amended by No. 1282/2023, and the payment system operator, consumer protection, electronic transaction, data protection and national ID texts marked reported in the lessons
NBE Risk Management Guidelines (May 2010)
National Financial Inclusion Strategy II (2021 to 2025) and the Digital Ethiopia 2025 strategy

Examples and companies are fictional. Bank practices are shown as typical Ethiopian practice, not as any one bank's policy. Always apply your own institution's approved policy and the current NBE directives.