Berhan Bank Review

Berhan Bank Exchange Rate

About Berhan Bank

In June 2009, Berhan Bank was established with a vision to be trustworthy and excellent banking services for the Ethiopian people. With an authorized  300 Million Birr and subscribed capital of more than 154 Million Birr. Berhan Bank started its operations on the 3rd of October 2009.

Services provided by Berhan Bank

Personal Banking

Current Deposit Account

Berhan Bank offers Current/Demand deposit accounts for its customers, which is to be operated using cheques. The Bank manages the obligation of paying all checks drawn against it by the customer till it has adequate funds in his/her account.

Such an account is targeted to either Individuals or Institutions who do mass transactions to meet their day-to-day business as well as any operational requirements.

Current Deposit Account can be opened by Governments, Associations, Companies, Trusts, Partnership Firms, Clubs, Cooperative Societies Sole proprietary concerns, Individuals, etc

Special featuress

• There is 0 interest in the balances
• For individuals, the facility of withdrawal from ATM and Mobile banking facilities is to be issued for convenience.
• A minimum of 50 Birr is a must for both individuals and individuals traders, while for Corporate Bodies, it is 1,000 Birr
• A legal agent on behalf of the principal is able to either open or operate an account via an attorney, which Berhan Bank needs to confirm.
• It can be opened or operated only by customers who are literate

Special Deposit Account

Underaged (under 18) are the ones allowed to have a special deposit account opened, since it is an interest-bearing account and it is earned on a daily basis but compounded monthly.

Special futures

It has a better and higher interest for its account holders.

The requirements to open the account

• A minimum of 50 as a deposit
• Letter of application
• Address of the parent/ guardian
• Birth certificate of the minor

Saving Account

Berhan Bank offers a savings account for individuals, organizations, and associations. Customers are able to have the following accounts

Ordinary Saving Account

Either single individuals or jointly, interest is calculated at the end of every month and then credited into customers’ accounts. An initial deposit of 50 Birr is enough to open an account, with considerations in exceptional cases to opening accounts with 0 balance.

Special Features

• ATM Card service on any ATM located everywhere
• Mobile Banking
• Opened and/or operated by a legal agent

Premium Saving Account

This is a premium interest-bearing account, where Berhan Bank values its customers’ contribution, that’s why it has segmentation for interest rate based on the contribution, with the following categories

• Premium level – 3 | 100,000Birr – 1,000,000 Birr
• Premium level – 2 | 1,000,001 – 2,000,000 Birr
• Premium level – 1 | Above 2,000,000 Birr

1,000 Birr is the minimum needed deposit to open such an account

Special Features

With the minimum saving interest rate, Berhan Bank is to pay its customers on the following basis:

• Premium level – 3 |  5%
• Premium level – 2 |  1%
• Premium level – 1 |  2%

Special Deposit Account

This is a non-interest bearing account, and Berhan Bank opens the account on the customer’s request, which has the following features

• Has 0% interest
• Has Mobile Banking Services
• Operated with/without passbook/ATM Card.

Term Deposit

Known as Certificate of Deposit, customers deposit their money for a specific timeframe and receive interest on a pre-agreed upon period. The term deposit can be for months or years, based on the customer’s preference.

Distinguishing Features

Berhan Bank only accepts a fixed-time deposit of three months. An initial deposit is 500 Birr and once the time has expired, the customer receives both the deposit + interest. The longer the deposit remains in Berhan Bank, the higher the rate of interest is.

Account for Interdicted person

Being legally incapable of discharging legal rights/interdiction, this account is opened for such people.

Requirements to open the interdicted account

• The court usually assigns a nominated guardian for the incapable or interdicted person, and this comes after ruling out the verdict.
• The account is opened and operated by the guardian appointed by the court on behalf of the interdicted/incapable person.

Personal Loans

You can use the loans offered by Berhan Bank for:

• Financing urgent financial requirements
• Purchasing home equipment, furniture, car, etc

Durable Consumer Loans

Berhan Bank’s Durable consumer loans ease the purchase of household equipment and furniture that have lifetime use of more than one year against mortgage or pledge of a building or vehicle.

Documentation Requirements

Berhan Bank demands a letter from the employer which confirms the employment status, duration of work, monthly salary, as well as deductions of the applicant’s spouse

Identity and residence proofs

• Identity Card (either residential or employment)
• Driving license, or
• Passport
• All of the mentioned above must be renowned.
• Marital status document proof.
• Financial documents needed are:
• Salaried individuals: latest salary slip showing
• A documented or alike declaration from employer stating all the details of income & deductions, or
• All deductions of the account holder, or
• Latest proved income tax return, or
• Statutory
• An authorized Signatory of the company that is signed dully.
• Self-employed individuals:
  • Financial Statements and/or Commercial Credit Reports and copies of Income Tax Returns of the last two years.
  • in the name of the guarantor, tax clearance must be presented if he/ she is licensed and/or engaged in some type of business activity.
  • Tax Identification Certificate in the names of
  • the borrower, the spouse, and the guarantors, if any.

Non-Durable Consumer Loans

Berhan Bank has collateral-based credits that are given to the customer for covering urgent expenses like medical treatment, domestic/foreign travel, and alike.

The income and the capacity of repayment of the customer decide the amount of loan, as 20 Birr is the minimum and 100,000 Birr is the maximum allowed for noon durable consumer loans.

Berhan Bank allows a maximum of one year for the customer to repay the loan plus interest in regular installments.It, the loan, must be covered by building mortgage in major towns with a minimum collateral coverage of 150%

To qualify for a consumer loan, the following criteria shall apply

Either a national Ethiopian resident or an Ethiopian by origin who is able to pay the loan.

The Applicant could be

• Salaried/business person(s)
• Professional, or
• Self-employed individuals

Documents Required

Berhan Bank demands a letter from the employer which confirms the employment status, duration of work, monthly salary, as well as deductions of the applicant’s spouse. The Bank also requires Tax identification number and a copy of income tax return for the last two years, and that is if he/she is a business person(s) and/or professionally self-employed. It is broken down into:

• A Loan application letter [must]
• Valid identification card, residential[must]
• marital status Proof[must]
• Financial statement/proof of income [must]
• Collateral ownership document[must]
• Identity/residence/age [must]
• Driving license (optional)
• Passport (optional)
• Birth certificate (optional)

Motor Vehicle Loans

This is a term loan given for the purchase of cars by Berhan Bank which offers a credit facility. However, Berhan Bank does not include the cost of extra spare parts, or luxury items; except factory loaded ones.

The vehicle is to be held as collateral and also registered at the legally empowered registering organ. Berhan Bank might need additional collateral if that risk is possibly threatening its interest.

The motor vehicles to be financed must fulfill the minimum national requirement of the Country and must be brand new

Diaspora Banking

They are deposits that are to be made either in US Dollar, Pound Sterling, and Euro, and below are the types of Diaspora Deposit Accounts by Berhan Bank:

Diaspora Saving Accounts

It is a saving account that stores the money in Birr with a local interest rate that is double the normal rate.

Diaspora Fixed Time Accounts

It is a fixed time account and deposited with Foreign currency.

Diaspora Current Accounts

This is a deposit account in foreign currency.To open an Account, the following choices are available.In being present all the necessary documents to Berhan Bank branches. If a customer is interested in opening a Diaspora current account, he/she can either

• Open the account in person
• Communicate with one of Berhan Bank’s agents
• Filling the request form on Berhan Bank’s Website

Afterward, he/she is required to fill out the required information to present the documents to the Ethiopian Embassy in his/her area, who will send the documents back to Berhan Bank for authentication via a carrier.

Documents required

A filled out application form, signed by the applicant him/herself, and 2 photographs of the applicant

Non-resident Ethiopians must have a resident permit/certification to confirm the Ethiopian National living and working abroad for at least more than 1 year that is subjected to renewal on giving out valid documents annually.

Non-resident Ethiopians who are living & working in neighboring and Middle East countries, they must present valid resident permit and/or valid work permit, which is issued by Ethiopian Embassies. It must be subjected to renewal on giving out valid documents annually.

Individuals must present a Copy of Resident ID and valid Passport (this is for diaspora Ethiopians living abroad)

For Businesses, they must have a Certificate of ownership that has the title of the organization and /or article and memorandum of the association.

Loan

Diaspora Consumer Loan

This is a phase by phase advance settlement for the covering Diaspora Ethiopian’s urgent needs, that the maximum tenure is 5 years with a maximum of 2,000,000 Birr. The interest rate is between 9 and 12 percent with collateral of

• Vehicle/machine
• Building, and
• Shares certificate of financial institutions

Diaspora Automobile Loan

It is a loan for the purchase brand new, second hand or used automobile for the non-commercial purpose to be purchased in the name of the Diaspora or his/her spouse. Conditions applicable are :

This is for Diaspora Ethiopians who are interested in purchasing new or second-hand automobiles for the use of non-commercial purposes, which can be purchased in the name of the Diaspora’s spouse. The maximum tenure is 10 Years, while the car is to be new, with a minimum equity contribution of 20%. The maximum amount to be loaned is 4,000,000 Birr with an interest rate of between 9 and 12 percent. The collateral is to be, preferably a building or vehicle.

Diaspora Housing/ Mortgage Loan

To renovate/purchase/construct/expand residential buildings/apartments, Berhan Bank avails its housing mortgage loan for Diaspora. The collateral of this loan is to be a building, with an interest rate between 8.25 and 11 percent, and the minimum equity contribution is 20%. The maximum amount allowed for the loan is 20,000,00 Birr with a maximum tenure of 15 to 20 years.

Diaspora Business Loan

This is loaned to customers as a term loan that is to be repaid in an exact period of time + interest for working capital and project financing. The collateral and maximum amount are to be determined depending on the type of the business or project, however, the interest rate is set to between 10.5 and 14 percent with a minimum equity contribution of 30% and maximum tenure of 1 to 15 years.

Corporate banking

Business Account

This account combines the features of both the savings and checking accounts, which customers can now rely on to save their money and get better interest rates, while at the same time, make sure payments on cheques are presented against this special account. It requires an average daily balance of 100,000 Birr, and it has an interest rate of 5.6 percent. There is a grace period of ten days to build up the balance to the required amount.

This account is a non-interest bearing type, which requires an initial deposit of 5,000 Birr. If a customer exceeds the allowed number of checks, which is 50 free checks privileges, he/she will be charged 10 Birr per check. An average daily balance of 100,000 Birr; otherwise, a 250 Birr fee is to be charged

OVERDRAFT PROTECTION

If a customer of Berhan Bank has both savings and checking accounts, he/she is eligible to use the savings account as overdraft protection towards the checking account. If, for example, a customer writes a check-off of one’s account, and there to be an indication of insufficient funds, the money can automatically transfer from the savings account to cover. There is a 20 Birr charge for each transaction made. This feature has to be disclosed at the time of account opening, so make sure to do that.

• Corporate Loans
• Provident Fund Management
  • Berhan bank is to maintain and manage provident fund accounts of the employees, with a better interest rate by having an agreement with the employer’s organization.

Letter of Credit (L/C)

Those who import several and various materials or who are involved in the import business and pay some percentage of the document value are eligible to have a letter of credit product extension. The letter of credit could be either a revolving facility or a one-time transaction.

When it is a revolving facility, it is a renewable facility that customers use regularly until it expires as long as the account shows the required performance. When it is a one-time transaction, it is to be a non-renewable type where any eligible applicant could open.

A customer has the availability of the letter credit facility at a minimally 20 percent margin of the original value of the document, but depending on the performance of the account, the type of the customer, and the saleability of the material that is to be imported, Berhan Bank might think of an offer below the minimum on exceptional cases.

Annually, the import letter of credit must be renewed. Failed not to, the account is to be labeled poor and might not get the chance to have better features

Import of Goods/Services

• Cash Against Document (CAD)
• Advance Payment (TT)
• Letters of Credit (LC), or
• Import Bills Collection (IBC)

Export of Goods/Services

• Cash Against Document (CAD)
• Advance Payment (TT)
• Letters of Credit (LC)
• Consignment

Salary Fund Management

Salary Fund Management (payroll Account)

Employees of an organization can get their salary payments via Berhan Bank’s Salary Fund Management, with an attractive interest rate and better accessibility of their account via free ATM Card and mobile banking services.

Special features

• Has an interest rate
• Has mobile banking service facilities
• Has similar features to a savings account
• Can be opened with zero balance
• ATM cards are issued for free
• Berhan Bank provides the payroll to customers free of charge.

International Banking

Letter of Guarantee

This is when the customer fails to pay payable money to either local or foreign beneficiary, in which Berhan Bank will issue a written document that it will be paying instead in alignment to an agreement/contract.

A letter of guarantee might be either of a one time or renewable occasionally

• For renewable letters, the limit is to be renewed regularly if and only if Berhan bank’s customers satisfy the requirements and conditions
• For one-time letters, it is a non-renewable letter where customers are given the extension of the guarantee for one-time transactions.

Full collateral coverage is required for the letter of guarantee to be extended. Berhan Bank’s attorney must go over the conditions and terms in the document signed between both the beneficiary and the obligor. Unless Berhan Bank has enough motives not to renew the letter, it should be renewed annually as its availability is for one year only. Both local and foreign customers can get the advantage of using letters of guarantee

For foreign recipients, the customer must have a foreign currency permit from the National Bank of Ethiopia, so Berhan Bank can process the guarantee. Depending on the duration set by the agreement and signed by the concerned parties; however, Berhan bank doesn’t back guarantees for more than 2 years.

Issuance of Letter of Guarantee

Berhan Bank may issue a letter of guarantee based on:

• Upon the request of the local customer for a local beneficiary and in local currency
• Upon the request of the local customer for a foreign beneficiary and in foreign currency
• When a correspondent bank asks Berhan Bank to issue a guarantee for a local beneficiary, the international banking body must process, in the sense that Berhan Bank is secured against any possible danger.

Digital Banking

E-Banking

Debit Card

Everyday convenience

• Send money
• Withdraw cash
• Check your balance
• Access your account at any time and everywhere
• Transfer funds between your own accounts

Berhan Card gives a customer access to:

• Withdraw cash
• Mini-statement of your account
• Change your Personal Identification Number (PIN)
• Check your account balance
• Transfer funds between your own accounts
• Send money
• Control:You have control to view recent transactions, balances, and monthly statements at any time
• Establish Online Banking alerts to keep track of debit spending
• You can set up recurring payments so you may not be late in paying fees
• Do purchases from anywhere in the world and bank by phone, online, or at one of over 3,100+ ATM locations

Internet Banking

Berhan Bank has availed its own online platform, check it out:https://berhanonline.et/ Additionally, Colleges/Universities, training firms, or schools are able to track the payment status of their trainees or students through School Pay Berhan Online platform: https://schoolpay.berhanonline.et/