The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has directed commercial banks to respond to electronic fraud complaints within 30 minutes, as fresh data shows a significant 51 per cent reduction in e-fraud losses across the financial sector.
The new directive, introduced amid declining cybercrime figures, is aimed at strengthening consumer protection and ensuring faster resolution of fraud cases in Nigeria’s expanding digital banking environment.
According to the CBN, the value of funds lost to fraud fell sharply in 2025, declining by 51 per cent compared to losses recorded in 2024. As part of broader anti-fraud measures, the apex bank also announced plans to enforce full compliance with the ISO 20022 messaging standard across the industry.
Data presented by the Managing Director of the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), Premier Oiwoh, at the Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum (NeFF) Technical Kick-off Session in Lagos, showed that fraud losses dropped from N52.26 billion in 2024 to N25.85 billion in 2025. While the total number of fraud cases declined slightly by four per cent—from 70,111 to 67,518—Lagos recorded the highest number of incidents.
The figures revealed that Lagos accounted for 63.43 per cent of total fraud cases nationwide, while Abuja followed distantly with 3.12 per cent.
Speaking at the event, the CBN Deputy Governor for Financial System Stability, Philip Ikeazor, represented by the Director of Development and Finance Institutions Supervision, Ibrahim Umar Hassan, highlighted the importance of Nigeria’s transition to ISO 20022 in improving fraud detection and response.
He explained that the financial industry had agreed to significantly shorten response times to fraud incidents, noting that a sub-30-minute response window would improve recovery outcomes and reduce systemic risks. Ikeazor warned that delays in addressing fraud often increase losses and erode public trust in electronic payment systems.
While acknowledging progress in securing Nigeria’s payments infrastructure, he noted that fraud threats have evolved alongside increased digitisation.
“Traditional fraud such as ATM card cloning has largely been eliminated, but new risks including online fraud, social engineering, SIM-swap abuse, insider compromise and authorised push payment scams have emerged,” he said.
Ikeazor stressed that ISO 20022 should be seen as a vital anti-fraud tool rather than a mere regulatory requirement, explaining that the standard provides richer and more structured transaction data that enhances traceability, analytics and early fraud detection.
He added that improved data quality would support quicker investigations, better identification of fraud patterns and stronger cross-border cooperation.
Also speaking, the CBN Director of Payment System Supervision and Chairman of NeFF, Dr Rakiya Yusuf, disclosed that the apex bank would soon begin inspecting banks to ensure compliance with ISO 20022. She said the move would further reduce fraud and improve the efficiency of electronic payment channels.
Yusuf also urged banks to strictly adhere to know your customer (KYC), know your business (KYB) and customer due diligence (CDD) requirements, warning that there would be close monitoring to ensure compliance.
She clarified that there is no category known as KYC zero, explaining that the existing framework consists of KYC levels 1, 2 and 3, each with defined thresholds.
“There is no KYC called KYC zero, where there is no identity at all. The central bank has also not introduced any category known as KYC four. Any such entries should be urgently addressed,” she said, adding that inspections would be carried out to verify compliance.
Meanwhile, NIBSS Managing Director, Oiwoh, observed that digital payment fraud in Nigeria has become more complex, driven by the growing use of instant and remote banking platforms.
He said NIBSS has taken key steps to reduce both the volume and value of fraud losses, including promoting intelligence sharing among financial institutions and deploying a persons-of-interest portal. The portal contains records of individuals involved in fraud cases from 2019 to date, ensuring that fraudsters are effectively tracked within the Nigerian financial system.