• The CBN has warned that emerging fraud threats require faster, more coordinated industry responses as digital transactions grow
• Regulators and industry leaders at the 2026 NeFF said collaboration since 2011 has reduced fraud losses through several measures
• The NIBSS reported a significant drop in electronic payment fraud losses in 2025 despite higher transaction volumes

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has raised concerns over evolving fraud risks within the banking and payments sector, warning that criminals are adopting more sophisticated methods.

Speaking at the 2026 Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum (NeFF) technical kick-off session held in Lagos on Wednesday, January 21, 2026, Philip Ikeazor, CBN deputy governor for financial system stability, said continuous collaboration through the NeFF platform has significantly improved the safety and resilience of Nigeria’s payments system since its establishment in 2011.

CBN urges faster response to fraud trends

Ikeazor, who was represented by Ibrahim Hassan, director of the development finance institutions supervision department, noted that industry-wide cooperation has helped curb fraud-related losses even as digital transactions continue to expand rapidly.

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He pointed to major achievements such as the nationwide adoption of EMV chip-and-PIN cards, implementation of two-factor authentication, improved transaction monitoring, centralised fraud reporting, and the linkage of bank verification numbers (BVN) with the national identification number (NIN).

According to him, new risks demand quicker, more coordinated and forward-looking solutions.

He said:

“Emerging threats such as social engineering, SIM-swap abuse, insider compromise and Authorised Push Payment (APP) scams require faster, integrated and proactive responses.”

He added that the industry is targeting fraud response times of less than 30 minutes while deploying enterprise-wide fraud management systems powered by real-time data analytics and shared intelligence.

Also speaking at the event, Rakiya Yusuf, CBN director of payments system supervision and chairman of NeFF, stressed the need for sustained cooperation among regulators, financial institutions, payment service providers and law enforcement agencies.

She said while progress has been made in identity management and transaction security, emerging threats require standardised frameworks, faster intervention and proactive use of ISO 20022 messaging standards and analytics to maintain fraud reduction gains.

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Electronic fraud losses fall amid tighter controls — NIBSS

Also speaking at the event, Premier Oiwoh, managing director and chief executive officer of the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), disclosed that electronic payment fraud losses dropped significantly in 2025 despite a surge in transaction volumes.

Oiwoh attributed the improvement to coordinated efforts of the CBN, the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), security agencies and industry operators, alongside stronger monitoring mechanisms across the payments ecosystem.

He noted, however, that internet banking and e-commerce platforms remain the most vulnerable channels, with social engineering schemes and insider-assisted fraud becoming increasingly prevalent.

According to him, sustaining the gains will require tougher internal controls, stricter regulatory compliance and deeper collaboration across the industry.

He warned that failure to report fraud incidents, weak identity verification processes and misuse of transaction limits continue to pose serious risks to the system.

The NIBSS chief also revealed that the organisation is working closely with the CBN and other stakeholders to deploy advanced artificial intelligence-based monitoring tools and develop a new national payment infrastructure aimed at strengthening fraud prevention while expanding financial inclusion.

Source: Legit.ng