The first full-fledged interest-free bank in Ethiopia

Privacy Policy

Effective Date: Jan 1, 2024
Last Updated: Sep 30, 2026

ZamZam Bank S.C. (“ZamZam Bank”, “the Bank”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) respects the privacy of its customers, users, and other individuals who interact with the Bank.

This Privacy Policy explains how ZamZam Bank collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal information when you use our websites, mobile applications, digital banking platforms, remittance services, internet banking services, self-service platforms, and other digital products and services.

This Privacy Policy applies to ZamZam Bank’s digital services, including, but not limited to:

  • ZamZam Bank’s official website;
  • ZamZam Mobile and other mobile banking applications;
  • ZamZam Remit and other remittance services;
  • Internet Banking;
  • digital account opening and customer self-service platforms;
  • payment, transfer, and other digital financial services; and
  • other websites, applications, portals, and digital services operated by or on behalf of ZamZam Bank that reference this Privacy Policy.

Certain products or services may provide additional privacy notices where necessary.

1. Information We Collect

Depending on the product or service you use, we may collect and process different types of information.

Personal and Identification Information

This may include:

  • full name;
  • date of birth;
  • gender;
  • nationality;
  • residential or mailing address;
  • telephone number;
  • email address;
  • photograph;
  • signature;
  • national identification information, including Fayda or other legally recognized identification information;
  • passport, driver’s licence, or other identification documents; and
  • other information required to identify or verify you.

Banking and Financial Information

We may process information such as:

  • customer and account identifiers;
  • account details;
  • account balances;
  • transaction history;
  • beneficiary information;
  • payment and transfer details;
  • remittance information;
  • source and destination of funds;
  • transaction references; and
  • other financial information necessary to provide banking services.

Know Your Customer and Regulatory Information

We may collect information necessary to comply with Know Your Customer (KYC), Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Counter-Financing of Terrorism (CFT), sanctions, fraud prevention, and other regulatory obligations.

This may include identification documents, customer due diligence information, occupation, source of funds, and other information required by applicable laws and regulatory authorities.

Device and Technical Information

When you access our digital services, we may collect information such as:

  • device type and model;
  • operating system;
  • browser type;
  • application version;
  • IP address;
  • device identifiers;
  • login and authentication information;
  • date and time of access;
  • security and audit logs;
  • application performance and error information; and
  • other technical information required to operate, secure, and improve our services.

Location Information

Certain services may process location information where necessary for security, fraud prevention, regulatory compliance, or to provide a feature requested by you.

Where required, your device or application will request appropriate permission before accessing location information.

Information From Third Parties

We may receive information from third parties where permitted or required by law, including:

  • government authorities;
  • identity verification services;
  • payment systems and financial institutions;
  • remittance and payment partners;
  • merchants and service providers;
  • regulatory authorities; and
  • other authorized sources.

2. How We Use Your Information

ZamZam Bank may use personal information to:

  • open, maintain, and administer customer accounts;
  • verify your identity;
  • authenticate access to our digital services;
  • process payments, transfers, remittances, and other transactions;
  • provide banking and financial services requested by you;
  • provide customer support and respond to enquiries or complaints;
  • communicate important information about your account, transactions, or services;
  • prevent, detect, investigate, and manage fraud, unauthorized transactions, cybersecurity threats, and other illegal activities;
  • conduct customer due diligence and comply with KYC, AML, CFT, sanctions, and other regulatory requirements;
  • monitor and improve the reliability, security, and performance of our services;
  • develop and improve our products and customer experience;
  • maintain business, security, transaction, and audit records;
  • establish, exercise, or defend legal claims;
  • comply with court orders, regulatory requests, and applicable laws; and
  • perform other activities reasonably necessary to provide and protect our banking services.

Where required by applicable law, we will obtain your consent before using your personal information for a purpose requiring consent.

3. Transaction and Remittance Information

When you use ZamZam Bank to make a payment, transfer funds, receive funds, or send or receive a remittance, we process information necessary to complete and record the transaction.

This may include information relating to the sender, recipient, beneficiary, financial institutions involved, transaction amount, currency, purpose, reference, date, and status.

Information may be exchanged with other banks, payment systems, remittance partners, settlement providers, regulatory authorities, or other parties where necessary to execute the transaction or comply with applicable laws.

4. Identity Verification

ZamZam Bank may verify customer information against information maintained by authorized identity providers, government systems, or other legally permitted sources.

Where supported by our services and permitted by applicable law, this may include verification using national identification systems such as Fayda.

Identity information is used for purposes including customer onboarding, authentication, regulatory compliance, fraud prevention, and account security.

5. Device Permissions

Some ZamZam Bank applications may request access to features or information available on your device.

Depending on the service, these permissions may include access to:

  • camera, for scanning documents, QR codes, or completing identity verification;
  • photographs or files, where you choose to upload supporting documents;
  • location, for security, fraud prevention, or location-dependent services;
  • notifications, to provide transaction alerts and service notifications; and
  • other device functionality necessary to provide a feature requested by you.

Permissions requested by a particular application may vary.

You may manage certain permissions through your device settings. Disabling a permission may prevent some features from functioning correctly.

6. Cookies and Similar Technologies

Our websites and online services may use cookies and similar technologies to operate the service, maintain security, remember preferences, understand service performance, and improve user experience.

Where required, you may be provided with options to manage non-essential cookies.

7. How We Share Information

ZamZam Bank does not sell customers’ personal information.

We may disclose or make information available where reasonably necessary to:

  • provide a service or complete a transaction requested by you;
  • communicate with another bank or financial institution involved in a transaction;
  • work with payment networks, remittance partners, technology providers, and other service providers supporting our operations;
  • verify customer identity;
  • prevent or investigate fraud, financial crime, cybersecurity incidents, or unauthorized activities;
  • comply with applicable laws and regulatory requirements;
  • respond to lawful requests from the National Bank of Ethiopia, courts, law enforcement bodies, and other competent authorities; or
  • protect the rights, security, property, and legitimate interests of ZamZam Bank, our customers, and other parties.

Third parties processing information on behalf of ZamZam Bank are required, as applicable, to handle information appropriately and in accordance with contractual, security, confidentiality, and legal requirements.

8. International and Cross-Border Transactions

Some services, particularly international remittance, international payment, and correspondent banking services, may require information to be transmitted to financial institutions, payment networks, remittance partners, correspondent banks, or authorities outside Ethiopia.

Such information will only be processed or transferred in accordance with applicable laws, regulatory requirements, and requirements governing the relevant financial transaction.

9. Data Security

ZamZam Bank implements administrative, organizational, physical, and technical safeguards designed to protect personal information against unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, loss, misuse, or destruction.

These measures may include access controls, authentication mechanisms, encryption, monitoring, audit logging, security testing, and other information-security controls appropriate to the nature of the information being processed.

Customers also have an important role in protecting their information. You should never disclose your password, PIN, One-Time Password (OTP), or other confidential authentication credentials to another person.

ZamZam Bank will never ask you to disclose your complete password, PIN, or OTP through unsolicited telephone calls, emails, text messages, or social media communications.

10. Data Retention

ZamZam Bank retains personal information for as long as reasonably necessary to:

  • provide banking and financial services;
  • maintain customer and transaction records;
  • comply with banking, financial, tax, anti-money laundering, and other legal or regulatory obligations;
  • prevent and investigate fraud and security incidents;
  • resolve complaints and disputes; and
  • establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

Retention periods may therefore vary depending on the type of information, the service involved, and applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

Information that is no longer required will be securely deleted, destroyed, anonymized, or otherwise handled in accordance with applicable requirements and the Bank’s information-retention procedures.

11. Your Privacy Rights

Subject to applicable Ethiopian law and any lawful limitations applicable to banking and financial records, you may have rights concerning your personal information, including rights to:

  • obtain information about how your personal data is processed;
  • request access to personal information relating to you;
  • request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information;
  • request deletion or restriction of processing where applicable;
  • object to certain processing where applicable;
  • withdraw consent where processing is based on consent; and
  • submit a complaint regarding the handling of your personal information.

Certain information cannot be deleted or processing cannot be stopped where ZamZam Bank is required to retain or process it for legal, regulatory, security, fraud-prevention, contractual, or legitimate banking purposes.

We may need to verify your identity before processing a privacy-related request.

12. Children’s Privacy

ZamZam Bank’s digital services are generally intended for persons legally eligible to use the relevant banking or financial service.

Where the Bank provides a product or service involving minors, personal information will be handled in accordance with applicable laws, regulatory requirements, and the conditions governing that product or service.

13. Third-Party Services and Links

Our websites or applications may contain links to websites, applications, payment services, or platforms operated by third parties.

Where you leave a ZamZam Bank service and interact directly with a third party, that third party’s privacy practices may apply. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of third-party services before providing personal information.

14. Communications

ZamZam Bank may contact you through SMS, telephone, email, push notification, in-app notification, or other appropriate channels for matters including:

  • transaction notifications;
  • security alerts;
  • account information;
  • regulatory notices;
  • service announcements;
  • customer support; and
  • information about relevant Bank products and services where permitted.

Where applicable, customers may be provided with a way to manage promotional communications. Security, transaction, regulatory, and essential service communications may still be sent where necessary.

15. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically to reflect changes in our services, technologies, business operations, or legal and regulatory requirements.

When material changes are made, we may provide notice through our website, applications, digital banking channels, or other appropriate communication methods.

The latest version of this Privacy Policy will be available on ZamZam Bank’s official website.

16. Applicable Law

This Privacy Policy and ZamZam Bank’s processing of personal information are governed by applicable laws and regulations of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, including applicable personal data protection, banking, financial consumer protection, cybersecurity, and financial-sector requirements.

17. Contact Us

If you have questions, concerns, complaints, or requests concerning this Privacy Policy or the handling of your personal information, please contact ZamZam Bank through our official customer service and communication channels.

ZamZam Bank S.C.
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Website: www.zamzambank.com
Email: info@zamzambank.com
Telephone: +251115582308

For your security, please do not send passwords, PINs, One-Time Passwords (OTPs), or other confidential authentication credentials by email or through unsecured communication channels.

ZamZam Bank S.C.
Sharia-compliant banking and financial services.

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