CBN reduces bank frauds by N3.96bn

It appears that the move by the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN)to block leakages in the system is paying off as over N3.959billion was saved from being lost to fraud in 2015.

The fraud data was presented by the Director, Banking and Payments System Department, Dipo Fatokun , yesterday at the ongoing 21st  Seminar for Finance Correspondents and Business Editors in Ibadan.

A breakdown of the figure showed that the actual loss resulting from fraud declined to N2.256billion in 2015 from N6.216billion recorded in the previous year. While the attempted fraud fell to N4.375billion from N7.750billion and volume increased from 1, 461 in 2014 to 10, 743 in the year under review.

He, however, explained that, from the analysis, the reduction  in 2015 made fraud rate in Nigeria less than that of Europe as a whole, and, indeed, that of Portugal which boasts the least fraud rate in Europe.

According to him, the success was made possible by the various CBN circulars released in 2015 or before then, but vigorously enforced last year.

He explained that the circular which led to the implementations of biometric verification numbers (BVN), fraud prevention strategies, MMS, Treasury Single Account (TSA), agent banking, E-Dividend Project with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have helped in “protecting bank customers by addressing issues of identity theft and fraud exposure, thus strengthening the Nigerian banking system.”

Meanwhile, he disclosed that 2015 equally witnessed an unprecedented upsurge in the volume and value of transactions across all payment channels in the financial industry.

The breakdown showed that the value increased by 11.57per cent from N44billion to N49billion, while the volume also rose by 43.36per cent from 113, 421, 933 to 162, 598, 740.

However, he hinted that the mobile money operation transactions for January recorded over N4billion in value.

According to him,  the average value of transactions the Mobile Money Operators(MMOs) carried out was over N3 billion per month (inter-scheme), with about 100,000 agents scattered all over the country at present. 

He argued that the introduction of mobile money in Nigeria has witnessed some impacts in the economy despite the challenges hovering around it.

Fatokun stated that the MMO initiatives have driven financial inclusion into bringing the unbanked segment of the society to the formal sector, as these would enable underserved people to have access to financial services that will “enhance their economic opportunities, boost productivity in various sectors and contribute to economic development.”

He stated that the beauty of this service, going by the general perception of users, is that it is easy to use, it is secure, service providers are easily accessible, it saves cost and time.