CBN proposes new rules to curb e-fraud

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says it’s planning to come out with a new regulation dedicated to checking fraudulent practices of bank customers in the country.

This additional rule, according to Sam Okojere, CBN Director, Payment System Management, would be imposed on the operations of the Bank Verification Number (BVN).

Okojere disclosed this at the Access Bank Anti-Fraud Week forum held in Lagos.

The decision of the CBN to move in this direction is based on a report obtained by Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), in 2018. The report attributed 89% of financial services fraud in Nigeria to digital channels and a meagre 11% to non-electronic channels.

Based on this discovery, Okojere noted that clear guidelines would be laid down for the operation of FinTech companies and Payment Service Banks (PSBs) in the financial ecosystem, going forward. This way, financial services can become more secure.

He also assured all participants in the sector of a meeting where they would come together to deliberate on ways to improve payment solutions.

“A new BVN guideline should be coming out any moment from now. When the exposure draft is released, I will encourage you to make a suggestion regarding your area of concern,” he said.

“The risk-based supervision framework that will actually take care of Fintechs and PSBs is in the offing, very soon there will be a very clear guideline on that,” Okojere added.

On his part, Group Managing Director/CEO, Access Bank Plc, Herbert Wigwe advocated for public enlightenment for customers who are ignorant about security issues surrounding digital transactions and identity theft.

“We must go beyond educating customers on the protection of crucial information to actual data protection and integrity amongst operators and stakeholders,” Wigwe said.

“I am a great believer in collaboration to solve problems. Our collaborative efforts in data protection and customer education is required in countering security threats in Digital payments,” the Access Bank boss stressed.