While the scarcity of Naira persisted, before the court extended the use of the old notes, a number of Nigerians lost hard earned monies to cyber fraud.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says there is something you could do to ensure that your money does not just disappear from your account without your consent.
Giving an update on the number of persons that have enrolled for the Bank Verification Number (BVN), the governor of the CBN, Godwin Emefiele, said only 57.4 million Nigerians have enrolled for their BVN as at March 31, 2023?
This figure has been said to represents a 5% increase compared to the 54.65 million BVNs enrolled in the first half of 2022.
Mr. Emefiele was speaking at the 34th seminar for finance correspondents and business editors in Calabar on Tuesday.
Emefiele highlighted some of the challenges faced by the apex bank and key policies introduced to make payments faster.
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He said the CBN had also continued to collaborate with relevant stakeholders in the adoption of payment system instruments and channels.
The economist said some of the channels introduced are the BVN, real-time gross settlement system (RTGS), regulatory sandbox, open banking, and the CBN digital currency (CBDC), the eNaira.
According to Emefiele, Nigeria is currently the first country on the continent, and second in the world to have fully launched a live CBDC.
“The payment system regulation and management role of the CBN is very critical in the achievement of its primary mandate of price and monetary stability conducive for inclusive and sustainable economic growth,” he said.
“It is also important for ensuring a stable, safe, and efficient financial system in Nigeria.”
BVN Can Reduce Cyber Fraud
On mitigating cyber fraud and other related crimes, the CBN governor said integrating the BVN has helped the financial industry in investigating crimes.
He said incorporating the BVN in know-your-customer (KYC) requirements, has also helped to ease the constraints associated with poor identification of banking customers.
“We have continued to support the aggressive enrollment of prospective banking customers in the informal sector onto the BVN system,” Emefiele said.
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“With a total enrollment of 57,431,355 as at 31st March 2023, the BVN is supporting the development of credit profiles for banking customers, which will assist in improving access to credit for credit-worthy borrowers by banks.”
The CBN has adopted the Nigeria Electronic Fraud forum (NeFF), payment card industry data security standard; financial industry cybersecurity fusion centre, amongst other initiatives.
“With these initiatives in place, the CBN has demonstrated irrevocable commitment to ensuring the stability and safety of the Nigerian payment system,” he added.
“Accordingly, we shall continue to deepen our oversight of the activities of operators in the payments system as well as ensure full compliance with regulations.
“In this regard, examiners and supervisors would continue to ensure that services delivered by participants meet required security standards.”
Lack Of Quality Telecoms Service
Furthermore, Emefiele said the implementation of CBN’s initiatives in the banking sector had been slow due to several issues in the industry.
According to him, the CBN is dealing with weak social infrastructure, cyber fraud, and unlicensed companies that affect the effective operation of payment platforms.
The CBN governor noted that payment was highly reliant on stable telecommunication networks and power infrastructure.
“These are currently not optimal in Nigeria, thus, impacting the stability and resilience of the payments system,” he said.
“Some entities have continued to exploit access to information technology to engage in regulated activities without the appropriate licenses and authorisation.
“The activities of fraudsters continue to threaten the resilience of the payment platforms. The confidence of the public is impacted by these activities.
“However, the collaborative effort between the CBN and other players in the industry is helping to curtail the nefarious activities of these fraudsters,” he stated.
