CBN to Release New BVN Rules to Tackle e-Fraud

CENTRAL Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will soon release a new bank verification number (BVN) guideline and set additional rules that will guide it in watch-listing fraudulent banks customers and tackling e-fraud, the apex bank has said.

Sam Okojere, CBN director, payment system management, who stated this at the Access Bank Anti-Fraud Week forum held in Lagos, said there will also be a clear guideline for the operation of financial technology (FinTech) companies and payment service banks (PSBs) to make the financial system safer.

Okojere, who was represented by Ademola Adeleke, assistant director, payments system management, said: “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 hinted of a stakeholders meeting coming soon where all the people in the ecosystem would come together to rub minds on how to improve the payment system.

“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 said.

Welcoming the participants, Herbert Wigwe, group managing director/CEO, Access Bank Plc, said the workshop was the bank’s avenue of reaching out to members of the community on issues around fraud risk and cyber security through close engagement.

Access bank workshop is in line with the International Fraud Awareness Week which officially started on Sunday, November 17, 2019.

Quoting from a report by Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), he said in 2018, about 89 percent of all financial services fraud in Nigeria happened through Digital channels while only 11 per cent were non-electronic.

In Nigeria, he said customers are culturally not attuned to security issues around digital transactions, even well-educated people run the risk of falling victim to social engineering and identity theft traps. “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,” he said further.

L-R: Dr. Mkgeorge Onyung, president, Shipowners Association of Nigeria,; Mr. Arthur Temple, Marine Compliance Advisor, Chevron Nigeria Limited; Mr. Abdul-Kadir Ahmed, managing director, NLNG Ship Management Limited; and Mr. Bayo Ojulari, managing director, Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company, at the opening session of the First Lagos International Shipping Expo held in Lagos recently

L-r: Professor Dauda Risikat; Guest Speaker; Professor Ben Oghojafor, Deputy Vice Chancellor, University of Lagos and Chairman Board of Trustees, UBA Professorial Chair; Professor John Ezike, Chair Occupier, UBA, Professorial Chair in Finance; and Mr. Babatunde Ajayi , Head, Micro-small, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), United Bank for Africaat the 1st Annual Lecture of UBA Professorial Chair in Finance, themed: The Dynamic Structure of World Economy, From Globalisation To Slowbalisation ; The African Dilemma… held at University of Lagos recently.