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E-Financial

How and Why Contract Staff Aid Bank Fraud

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There are indications that the growing tendency among banks to give sensitive positions to contract staff is heightening the risk of lenders being hit by fraudsters, according to New Telegraph.

 

The finding showed that despite repeated warnings by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), banks not only continue to hire contract staff, but have started assigning these employees to sensitive roles that were previously reserved for full time or permanent staff.

 

A well-placed source, which attributed the development to the need for banks to cut costs in the face of a tough economy and rising competition, blamed it for most of the fraud cases recently recorded in the industry.

 

Indeed, a “concerned” Head of Operations at a Lagos branch of one of the leading banks in the country, who asked not to be identified, revealed that contract staff were directly and indirectly involved in the two cases of fraud recorded at his branch in the past two months.

 

He said: “In the first incident, one of the contract staff at the branch was able to siphon about N40 million belonging to one of the big Pentecostal churches in the country, while in the second incident, another contract staff was suspected of providing information to fraudsters who succeeded in stealing N4 million from a customer’s account.”

 

According to the bank official, more contract workers, compared with their permanent staff counterparts, are perpetrating fraud because of their relative poor remuneration.

 

He argued that with more banks deploying contract staff to increasingly more sensitive positions in a bid to cut costs, the likelihood of these workers – given their meager salaries – succumbing to the temptation of getting involved in fraudulent acts also increases.

 

“Before now, contract staff were not assigned to Automated Teller Machine (ATM) watch duties. You will also hardly find them being told to perform customer service duties. But all that has changed. Furthermore, in the past, most banks usually set a maximum value of between N200,000 and N500,000 as the limit for risky transactions that a contract staff  can undertake, but these days, this limit has been raised to N1 million.

 

“Yet these are people that are paid N60,000 compared with full time staff that earn between N120,000 and N200,000. Of course, it is not difficult to see why some of them (contract staff) will not be able to resist offers from fraudsters, especially in these hard times,” he stated.

 

This newspaper also gathered that following a significant increase in the number of fraud cases it was recording, a Tier 1 lender, a few months ago, disengaged many of its contract staff and hired fresh graduates.

 

It will be recalled that Mr. Dipo Fatokun, CBN Director, Banking and Payments System Department revealed  last year that the apex bank had advised lenders to desist from giving sensitive banking roles to contract staff as they may not have a stake in the financial institution.

 

He said: “A temporary staff may not have a stake in the bank so to say. So, it is encouraged that if they have staff that are not permanent, they should not give them responsibilities or roles that will expose them to critical functions of a bank.

 

“If you are giving somebody an authority to approve transactions of high magnitude and he does not have a stake in your bank, then you are already exposing yourself. So, this been going on and I believe many banks understand the need to rely on their key staff for major duties. That is one of the reasons the fraud attempts have been rising, but the value lost declining.”

 

Similarly, in the past two years, the Managing Director and Chief Executive of the NDIC, Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim, had been repeatedly warning banks against the use of outsourced staff, pointing out that in 2015, over 75 per cent of fraud cases in the banking sector was traced to outsourced bank staff.

 

He revealed that bank examination reports indicated that the high incidence of fraud and forgeries in the banking system was linked to outsourced or contract staff.

 

The NDIC Chief Executive Officer also stated that in as much as regulators appreciated the necessity for banks to cut costs, it was incumbent on all stakeholders to fashion out capacity building and other strategies to motivate all employees to contribute positively rather than engaging in criminal acts that impact adversely on the entire banking system.

 

Interestingly, Ibrahim had told finance and business journalists in Ilorin in October 2015 that 64 per cent of fraudulent activities in the banking industry in 2014 were traced to temporary staff member of banks.

 

According to fraud statistics contained in the latest Nigerian Electronic Fraud Report, which was prepared by the Banking and Systems Payment Department of CBN, the banking industry recorded 31,736 fraud cases involving the sum of N16.5 billion between January 2014 and December 2016.

 

The study showed that the frauds were perpetrated through various payment channels such as Across the Counter, ATMs, cheques and electronic-commerce platforms. Others are Internet banking, mobile banking, Point-of-Sale and web transactions.

 


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E-Financial

World Bank Approves Extra $65m for Nigeria’s SPESSE

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World Bank has approved an additional $65 million loan for Nigeria to support the Sustainable Procurement, Environmental, and Social Standards Enhancement (SPESSE) project, increasing the total financing for the initiative to $145 million.

World Bank Approves Extra $65m for Nigeria’s SPESSE

The approval was granted on June 24, 2025, according to details posted on the World Bank’s website, which also indicates that the project’s status has moved to “active” following the approval.

The SPESSE project, initially launched with an $80 million loan approved in February 2020, aims to strengthen institutional capacity for managing procurement, environmental, and social standards in both the public and private sectors across Nigeria.

The World Bank described the project’s development objective as the establishment of sustainable capacity in these areas.

This latest approval is part of a broader wave of financing expected from the World Bank to Nigeria in 2025.

The bank is scheduled to approve loans totalling $1.61 billion over the coming months, supporting various development initiatives.

Among these is a $300 million loan for the ‘Solutions for the Internally Displaced and Host Communities Project,’ expected to be finalised by the end of July.

This project aims to improve access to basic services and economic opportunities for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and host communities in selected local government areas in northern Nigeria.

In September, the World Bank plans to approve four additional loans: a $10.5 million facility to support technical assistance for the Central Bank of Nigeria, a $300 million Health Security Program targeting Western and Central Africa (Nigeria – Phase IV), a $500 million project for building resilient digital infrastructure (BRIDGE), and a $500 million loan under the Nigeria Sustainable Agricultural Value-Chains for Growth project aimed at promoting sustainable growth and job creation within key agricultural sectors.

Earlier in March 2025, the bank approved three financing requests amounting to $1.13 billion.

These funds are directed towards projects focused on enhancing quality education, boosting household and community resilience, and improving nutrition.

Among the approved loans were $80 million for the Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria 2.0 project, $552 million for the HOPE for Quality Basic Education for All programme, and $500 million for the Community Action for Resilience and Economic Stimulus Programme.

In February, the Nigerian government announced expectations of new World Bank loans totalling $2.2 billion for six different projects in 2025. This follows a $1.5 billion loan disbursed in 2024 aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s economic stability and resource mobilisation efforts.


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E-Financial

Ecobank Taps Google Cloud to Deepen Financial Inclusion

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Ecobank, a pan-African financial services group, has partnered with Google Cloud in a deal to improve financial services with advanced analytics, AI and driving digital empowerment across Africa.

This collaboration will focus on leveraging Google Cloud’s advanced technologies and AI to enhance Ecobank’s digital offerings to accelerate the digital transformation of the Bank.

The partnership agreement is designed to empower individuals, support the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the region, and contribute to the overall economic development of Africa.

“Our collaboration with Google Cloud is a leap forward in Ecobank’s digital transformation journey. We look forward to leveraging Google Cloud’s world-class technology to unlock new possibilities for individuals and businesses to grow and scale across Africa,” said Jeremy Awori, group chief executive officer of Ecobank.

“This collaboration signifies our shared intent to explore building a more connected and financially inclusive future for the continent.”

Thomas Kurian, CEO, Google Cloud, stated that Google Cloud and Ecobank have a shared vision for using technology to help deliver financial empowerment to more people and businesses in Africa.

“We look forward to exploring the ways our cutting-edge AI, powerful data analytics, and scalable infrastructure can support Ecobank’s efforts to fuel the continent’s economic development and digital future.”

The collaboration aims to simplify and streamline money transfers, both domestically and across borders. By leveraging Google Cloud’s capabilities, including its powerful data analytics platform, BigQuery, for AI-driven insights, Ecobank will aim to develop solutions that improve access to finance for SMEs, simplify payment acceptance, and provide valuable data-driven insights to help businesses scale across more than 33 countries in Africa.


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E-Financial

Stanbic IBTC Holdings Rights Issue Oversubscribed by 21.9%

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Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc has announced the successful close of the N148.7 billion Rights Issue subscription exercise following the completion of the verification exercise by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and final clearance by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Stanbic IBTC Holdings said the Rights Issue was oversubscribed by 21.9 percent, adding that the holding company has injected N140 billion into Stanbic IBTC Bank.

Kunle Adedeji, acting Chief Executive, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc while commenting on the just concluded rights issue programme said that “The turnout and participation of existing shareholders taking up their rights was impressive such that the rights issue was oversubscribed by 21.9percent to the tune of N181.4 billion. Our shareholders’ interest shows the confidence they continue to have in the brand,” he said.

“We appreciate the support of the Central Bank of Nigeria, The Securities and Exchange Commission, the Lead Issuing house, Joint Issuing houses and other stakeholders in the successful completion of the recapitalisation exercise.

“We are optimistic about future opportunities, as the injection of new capital will position us to take advantage of them to enable us to deliver to our shareholders. To all shareholders, we are grateful for your unwavering belief and support for the Stanbic IBTC Brand and your willingness to continue this journey with us,” Adedeji said.

Having received an injection of N140 billion from the parent company, the Chief Executive of the Banking subsidiary, Wole Adeniyi, remarked that “the injection of the new capital into the banking subsidiary is a positive development. This will enable the Bank to seize additional opportunities within the industry and enhance our Single Obligor Limit (SOL).

“We deeply appreciate the dedication and hard work of our regulators, issuing houses, and all other stakeholders. We extend our sincere gratitude for your continued support.”


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