How to use Fetan SMS
Setup takes a few minutes and you only do it once. Watch the short video, or follow the written steps below it.
The whole setup, start to finish
This short walkthrough shows the app as it actually looks: registering, granting the SMS permission, connecting Telegram and receiving the first deposit alert.
Setting up
Install Fetan SMS
Install from Google Play on the phone that receives your bank's SMS. That matters: the app can only read messages that arrive on the device it is installed on.
Register with your phone number
Enter your name and phone number. If a sales partner gave you a referral code, enter it here. Your account is then tied to this device — one free trial per device.
Allow SMS access
Android asks for permission to receive and read SMS. Without it the app cannot see the deposit messages your bank sends. It never sends SMS from your phone.
Connect Telegram
Tap Connect Telegram. Telegram opens on the official Fetan bot — press Start and you are connected. This is where your alerts will arrive.
Invite your staff
From Settings → Alerts, share an invite link with each staff member, or add the bot to a staff group. Everyone connected receives the alerts you route to them.
Send a test
Use Send test to confirm the whole chain works before you rely on it. When the next real deposit arrives, it lands the same way.
Routing each account to its own team
If you have several shops or bank accounts, branch routing keeps each team looking at its own money only.
Open Branch routing
In the app, go to Branch routing and add one row per account or branch.
Name the branch
Use a name your staff will recognise — "Bole Shop", "Piassa Branch". This name appears in every alert for that account.
Enter the account digits from the SMS
Each bank masks its account numbers differently, so the app asks for exactly the digits that bank shows — the last 4 for CBE, the first 3 and last 4 for Dashen, and so on. The form tells you which ones to enter.
Choose who receives it
Tick the Telegram chats that should get this branch's deposits. Only those chats receive them. If you leave every chat unticked, that branch's alerts go to all connected chats.
Supported for branch routing: CBE, Dashen, Bank of Abyssinia, Siinqee, Awash, Bunna, COOP, Zemen, Berhan, Hibret and Wegagen. If an incoming deposit matches no row, it is forwarded to your connected chats as usual.
What happens after setup
1 · The SMS arrives
Your bank texts you. The app checks the sender ID against its list of 12 banks and wallets.
2 · It is parsed
Deposits are kept; debits, fees and unsupported senders are skipped. Amount, bank, account and time are extracted on the phone.
3 · Your team is alerted
The alert reaches the Telegram chats for that branch within seconds — with the branch name attached.
4 · It is on record
The deposit is saved in Transactions with its delivery status, and counted in Reports for the period.
Troubleshooting
Alerts stopped arriving
Check three things in order: that the phone still has the SMS permission granted, that Telegram is still connected in Settings → Alerts, and that your subscription has not expired. If the phone has an aggressive battery saver, allow Fetan SMS to run in the background — the app offers this as a one-tap option.
A deposit was received but no alert went out
Open the transaction in the app: the reason is shown there. The usual causes are an amount above the threshold you set, forwarding turned off for that bank, or a branch rule that matched no Telegram chat. You can re-send any deposit manually.
The alert went to the wrong team
The account digits in the branch rule probably do not match what that bank prints in its SMS. Open the message, compare the masked digits with the rule, and correct it — the form states exactly which digits that bank needs.
I got a new phone
Install the app and sign in with the same phone number. A device-transfer request is created automatically for our team to approve, which stops one subscription being shared across phones.
My bank's messages are not recognised
Only the 12 listed banks and wallets are supported, and only by their official sender ID. Send us the bank name and an example message and we will look at adding it.