The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has called on banks and other financial institutions to respond more swiftly to emerging electronic fraud threats in order to protect Nigeria’s rapidly expanding digital payments ecosystem.
The call was made on Wednesday at the 2026 Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum (NeFF) Technical Kick-Off Session held in Lagos, with participation from regulators, banks, payment service providers, identity management agencies, and law enforcement bodies.
As digital transactions continue to grow across the country, financial fraud remains a major challenge, prompting the CBN to intensify industry-wide awareness and coordination efforts.
What the CBN is saying
Delivering the keynote address, the CBN’s Deputy Governor for Financial System Stability, Philip Ikeazor, said fraud patterns are becoming increasingly sophisticated and demand faster, coordinated responses across the financial system.
Represented by Ibrahim Hassan, Director of the Development Finance Institutions Supervision Department, Ikeazor warned that threats such as social engineering, SIM-swap abuse, insider compromise, and Authorised Push Payment (APP) scams are placing mounting pressure on Nigeria’s payment infrastructure.
“Emerging threats such as social engineering, SIM-swap abuse, insider compromise and Authorised Push Payment (APP) scams require faster, integrated and proactive responses,” he said.
He added that the industry is targeting fraud response times of under 30 minutes and is working toward enterprise-wide fraud management systems that leverage real-time analytics and shared intelligence.
Industry collaboration driving fraud reduction
Ikeazor noted that sustained collaboration under the NeFF framework since 2011 has significantly strengthened the resilience of Nigeria’s payments system.
According to him, fraud losses have declined even as digital transaction volumes have surged, largely due to coordinated industry action. He highlighted key milestones including the migration to EMV chip-and-PIN cards, deployment of two-factor authentication, improved transaction monitoring, centralised fraud reporting, and the integration of the Bank Verification Number (BVN) with the National Identification Number (NIN).
NIBSS confirms decline in fraud losses
In a separate keynote address, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), Premier Oiwoh, confirmed that electronic payment fraud losses declined significantly in 2025, despite rising transaction volumes.
“The reduction in electronic payment fraud losses was recorded despite rising transaction volumes,” Oiwoh said.
He attributed the improvement to interventions by the CBN, the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), security agencies, and enhanced monitoring across the payments ecosystem.
Internet banking, e-commerce still vulnerable
Oiwoh noted that internet banking and e-commerce platforms remain the most vulnerable fraud channels, with social engineering and insider-assisted fraud emerging as dominant risks.
He warned that weak fraud reporting, poor identity verification, and abuse of transaction limits continue to expose the system to threats. According to him, stronger Know-Your-Customer (KYC) and Know-Your-Device (KYD) processes—supported by real-time BVN and NIN validation—are essential to sustaining recent gains.
He added that improved reporting requirements, joint industry action, and a central “Persons of Interest” database covering over 13,000 individuals have strengthened fraud detection and prevention.
AI and new infrastructure to boost prevention
Oiwoh disclosed that NIBSS, in collaboration with the CBN and other stakeholders, is deploying advanced AI-driven monitoring tools and developing a new national payment infrastructure to further curb fraud while supporting financial inclusion.
The 2026 NeFF Technical Kick-Off Session was held under the theme: “Shrinking Fraud Losses With ISO 20022 and Identity Management.”
What you should know
In July 2025, the CBN raised concerns over a sharp increase in financial fraud, revealing that reported cases rose by 45% within one year, with about 70% of losses linked to digital channels, particularly unregulated virtual asset platforms.
Findings from the CBN’s Financial Stability Report 2024 also showed that more than 30 Ponzi-style investment schemes exploiting digital currency narratives were flagged by the Securities and Exchange Commission and other agencies, underscoring the growing risks in Nigeria’s digital financial space.
Emmanuel Bassey is a Financial Expert that has worked in the Banking and Finance Industry for over 15+ years across different banks in Nigeria
