E-Financial
Stakeholders @ E-PPAN Conference Seek Joint Action Against e-Fraud
Stakeholder in the judiciary, financial and information technology sectors have called for more proactive measures to tackle electronic related fraud in the country.
The calls were coming on the heels of statistics by the Nigeria Inter Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS) that the country has already exceeded the e-fraud projection for 2014 with several billions of naira lost.
In her keynote address at the 5th annual Payment Systems & Fraud Conference 2014 organised by Electronic Payment Providers Association of Nigeria (E-PPAN), Justice Oluwafunmilayo Olajumoke, chief judge of Lagos State, identified e-payment industry as prone to manipulations and attacks by fraudster’s insider and outsider attack, therefore, it has become imperative for the criminal justice sector to develop the appropriate tools and strategies for combating e-crimes and e-fraud.
While calling for improved efforts among the law enforcement agents in the presentation of cases for trial, especially as regarded electronic fraud, Justice Olajumoke, who was represented by Justice Atinuke Ipaye of the High Court of Lagos, said, although the evidence act has helped in the trial of cyber cases, but of necessity, “both the investigators and the prosecutors are the two sides of the same coin.
“They must work together, pay great attention to the detail and be meticulous to ensure that their investigations will stand up to the scrutiny in the court room and do everything by the book”.
As a way forward, the guest speaker said, “The role of the judiciary as ‘resolver of disputes and interpreter of the law and defender of the constitution’ remains unchanged even in these times of great technological advancement. What must however change are the tools and resources deployed to tackling crimes”.
Olajumoke whose speech dwelled on the conference theme: “Unbundling the criminal Justice Process in a Digital Economy, said although, the legal environment is traditionally conservative and wheels of justice always turn slowly, she assured that with articulate evidence, the prosecutor should be able to secure conviction in the case of e-fraud.
On his part, Mrs Christable Onyejekwe, executive director of NIBSS represented by Mr. Osioke Ojior, chief risk officer, while speaking on, “The Financial, Economic and Social Cost of E-fraud to a Nation,” said that financial institutions in the country must step up their fights against electronic and other related financial fraud.
According to the ED, some banks find it difficult to notice when they are breached, causing several billions of naira lost to fraudsters yearly.
NIBSS revealed that banks have already lost over N4 billion from 916 attempted frauds and other financial players/MPO losing N32 million in 30 attempted attack volume, between January 1 and September 30, 2014.
The losses were calculated attempted volume of N4.7 billion for banks and N72 million for OFI/MPO.
Earlier in a welcome address, Mrs. Onajite Regha, chief executive officer of E-PPAN said that, compared to any other time in its history, the e-payment industry faces an overwhelming variety of security challenges as the transaction environment grows in size and complexity.
Regha said that with more stakeholders, payment channels and the users driving the use of payment cards, the need to enhance the integrity of an increasingly dynamic system while ensuring global acceptance is more important than ever.
The E-PPAN boss said, “On a global level, fraud continues to migrate from more secured to less secured regions and channels. This obvious shift is accelerated by an increasingly adept and organized criminal community that seeks to exploit security vulnerabilities and fraud. Criminals are targeting not just unmonitored, stand-alone, point-of-interaction devices, but also launching sophisticated attacks on the private networks of well-known entities, such as major data processors and top-tier merchants”.
She warned that the aforementioned factors can lead to fraud attacks that cause erosion in confidence and global acceptance of e-payments.
Regha added that, in a bid to forestall the trend, E-PPAN has decided to use the e-fraud conference as a platform to carry along identified and very important stakeholders in the fight against e-fraud.
Fidelity Bank Plc, one of Nigeria’s leading Tier-1 financial institutions, has announced a remarkable financial performance for the first quarter of 2025, recording a Profit Before Tax (PBT) of N105.8 billion, representing an impressive growth of 167.8% compared to N39.5 billion in Q1 2024.
Mrs. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, MD/CEO, Fidelity Bank Plc
The bank’s unaudited financial statements, released on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) on April 30, 2025, highlight a substantial increase in Gross Earnings, which rose to N315.4 billion, marking a year-on-year growth of 64.2% from N192.1 billion in the same period last year.
Growth in interest income was primarily led by 38.6% yoy (7.4% ytd) expansion in earning assets base, while the increase in non -interest revenue came from FX-related income, trade and commission on banking services, etc., supported by increased customer transactions.
Commenting on the bank’s performance, Dr. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe,OON, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Fidelity Bank Plc, stated, “We started the year with triple-digit growth in profit and sustained the momentum in our earning assets growth.
This performance shows the resilience of our business model and reinforces our confidence in delivering a better result in the 2025 financial year.”
Other areas of the unaudited financial statements, equally show a marked improvement with Total Deposits growing by 11.1% ytd to N6.6tn from N5.9tn in December 2024, driven by 10.6% ytd growth in low-cost deposits to N6.1tn, which represents 92.2% of total customer deposits. Local currency deposits increased by 2.0% ytd while foreign currency deposits increased by 21.4% from $1.9bn in December 2024 to $2.3bn.
Net Loans and Advances increased by 5.0% ytd to N4.6tn. The growth in the bank’s Loan Book was skewed to LCY Loans as cost of risk declined to 0.6% from 1.5% in 2024FY.
“Beginning the year with such positive momentum reinforces our commitment to supporting the growth of individuals and businesses, while enhancing our financial sustainability. As we go into the rest of the year, we remain focused on building a resilient banking franchise with a diversified earnings base,” Onyeali-Ikpe added.
Ranked among the best banks in Nigeria, Fidelity Bank Plc is a full-fledged Commercial Deposit Money Bank serving over 9.1 million customers through digital banking channels, its 255 business offices in Nigeria and United Kingdom subsidiary, FidBank UK Limited.
The Bank is the recipient of multiple local and international Awards, including the 2024 Excellence in Digital Transformation & MSME Banking Award by BusinessDay Banks and Financial Institutions (BAFI) Awards; the 2024 Most Innovative Mobile Banking Application award for its Fidelity Mobile App by Global Business Outlook, and the 2024 Most Innovative Investment Banking Service Provider award by Global Brands Magazine.
Additionally, the Bank was recognized as the Best Bank for SMEs in Nigeria by the Euromoney Awards for Excellence and as the Export Financing Bank of the Year by the BusinessDay Banks and Financial Institutions (BAFI) Awards.
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has unveiled a technology adoption assessment survey for registered capital market operators as part of efforts to deepen innovation and efficiency in the Nigerian capital market.
In a circular, the SEC stated that the exercise was designed to evaluate the level of adoption of advanced technologies among CMOs operating within the Nigerian capital market.
According to the notice, “The following technology adoption survey is designed by the Commission to assess the adoption of advanced technologies among registered Capital Market Operators.”
The SEC directed all registered operators to log into the e-portal at using their current access credentials to complete the survey. The exercise will run for two weeks, from 5 to 20 May 2025.
Speaking recently on the role of innovation in the capital market, Emomotimi Agama, director-general of the SEC, urged stakeholders to embrace technology as a catalyst for growth, improved transparency, operational efficiency, and market resilience.
He noted that the SEC recognises the emergence of new financial products and services driven by technological advancements, and remains committed to adapting its regulatory framework to meet the evolving needs of the market.
According to him, the commission’s approach to innovation is anchored on three pillars: investor safety, market deepening, and problem-solving aimed at building a robust and efficient capital market ecosystem.
Agama also highlighted the commission’s Regulatory Incubation Programme, which allows fintech startups to operate within a controlled environment for one year while appropriate rules are developed to govern their activities.
He said the programme is part of the SEC’s broader strategy to support innovation while safeguarding market integrity and investor interests.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) ,has confirmed that Nigeria has fully repaid about US$3.4 billion loan it got in April 2020 under the Rapid Financing Instrument to help alleviate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the sharp fall in oil prices.
IMF said the loan has been repaid as of April 30, 2025 in a statement issued in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital on Thursday.
However, IMF said Nigeria is still expected to honour some additional payments in forms of Special Drawing Rights charges hat will amount to US$30 million annually.
“In line with the IMF’s Articles of Agreements, these charges, levied at the SDR interest rate, which is updated at the beginning of each week, apply to the difference between Nigeria’s SDR holdings (SDR 3,164 million) (US$4.3 billion) and its cumulative SDR allocation (SDR 4,027 million) (US$5.5 billion)
“The net payment of the charges stops when Nigeria’s SDR holdings reach the cumulative allocation amount,” IMF said in the statement. Online fitness
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