The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says Nigerian banks have agreed to reduce fraud response times to under 30 minutes to improve recovery outcomes and limit systemic risk.
The Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability, Philip Ikeazor, disclosed this at the 2026 Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum (NeFF) Technical Kick-Off Session in Lagos, where he was represented by Ibrahim Hassan.
Ikeazor said while legacy crimes such as ATM card cloning have been largely neutralised, newer threats, including online fraud, social engineering, SIM-swap abuse, insider compromise and authorised push payment (APP) scams, now dominate.
He said NeFF has coordinated industry-wide responses through mandatory two-factor authentication, public awareness campaigns, 24/7 bank fraud desks and the new Standardised APP Scam Framework.
“Importantly, the industry has agreed to reduce fraud response times to under 30 minutes, a decisive step that materially improves recovery outcomes and limits systemic exposure,” he said.
Ikeazor identified the Bank Verification Number (BVN) and its integration with the National Identification Number (NIN) as major drivers of fraud reduction, noting that stronger identity verification is closing loopholes across banking and agent networks.
He also said migration to ISO 20022 is enhancing data quality, traceability and early fraud detection, enabling faster investigations and better cross-border cooperation.
Warning that electronic fraud losses have risen sharply in recent years, Ikeazor called for bold, measurable reduction targets, backed by real-time identity verification, round-the-clock monitoring, structured liability frameworks and transparent performance scorecards.
“What gets measured must be improved,” he said.
In her remarks, NeFF Chairman, Rakiya O. Yusuf, said sustained collaboration among regulators, banks and payment service providers has strengthened the resilience and credibility of Nigeria’s payments system.
She said key gains include EMV chip-and-PIN migration, two-factor authentication, enhanced consumer protection and industry-wide fraud information sharing, while BVN-NIN integration has significantly reduced impersonation and identity-based fraud.
BusinessDay
