Cash is a first-class payment
You do not need a bank account or a card to use DERSA. Pay the driver in cash, or from a DERSA Pay balance, and the app treats both the same.
About us
Built in Ethiopia, for Ethiopia
DERSA is built in Ethiopia for the people who live here: who pay in cash, who give directions by landmark, and who speak four languages between them. It started in Addis Ababa and runs across the country.
Built for Ethiopia
Amharic first, then three more
Amharic, English, Afaan Oromoo and Tigrinya, throughout the app rather than on the welcome screen.
Built for Ethiopian businesses
Nothing to pay to list a shop or to start driving, and settlement in birr to an account you already have.
Safety that is built in
A code read out before a trip starts, a trip you can share, and phone numbers that stay private on both sides.
How we work
We do not claim what we cannot do
The fare you are shown is the fare you pay. DERSA does not carry prescription-only medicine. Where something is not built yet, this site says so rather than dressing it up.
Money is accounted for
Every birr is recorded in a double-entry ledger. A driver's, a shop's or a customer's balance is not a number somebody can edit; it is the sum of movements anybody can read back.
Safety is not bolted on later
A passenger reads out a code before the car moves. A recipient reads out a code before a parcel changes hands. A driver's personal number is never handed to a customer.