The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced a sweeping, industry-wide offensive against the growing threat of digital fraud, introducing new measures aimed at slashing fraud response times across Nigeria’s financial system to under 30 minutes.
The initiative was unveiled at the Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum (NeFF) Technical Kick-Off Session, bringing together regulators, commercial banks, fintech firms, payment service providers, and law enforcement agencies in a coordinated push to strengthen fraud prevention and response mechanisms nationwide.
At the heart of the new framework is speed. The CBN has directed financial institutions to significantly shorten the time it takes to detect, escalate, and respond to fraud incidents, warning that delays allow criminals to move stolen funds across multiple platforms before recovery efforts begin.
By enforcing a sub-30-minute response window, the apex bank aims to improve recovery rates, limit customer losses, and reduce systemic risk within Nigeria’s rapidly expanding digital payments ecosystem.
The initiative emphasizes deep collaboration across the financial ecosystem, requiring banks, fintechs, and payment processors to break down operational silos and share intelligence in real time. According to the CBN, coordinated monitoring and joint response protocols are now critical as fraud schemes become more sophisticated and cross-platform.
Stakeholders are also expected to align their internal systems with shared industry standards for fraud detection, reporting, and escalation.
Nigeria’s digital economy has expanded rapidly, driven by mobile banking, instant transfers, and fintech adoption. While recent reports indicate a moderation in electronic fraud cases, the CBN has stressed that cybercriminals continue to evolve, making proactive regulation and faster intervention essential.
The regulator reaffirmed its commitment to stronger identity verification frameworks, including the continued integration of Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) and National Identification Numbers (NIN), alongside advanced analytics and real-time transaction monitoring tools.
CBN officials signaled that compliance with the new response-time benchmark will be closely monitored. Banks and payment service providers are expected to invest in robust fraud prevention infrastructure and staff capacity to meet the regulator’s expectations.
The move reflects a firmer regulatory stance as the CBN seeks to protect consumer confidence, strengthen financial stability, and support long-term growth in Nigeria’s digital financial services sector.
By framing digital fraud as a collective industry challenge, the CBN’s latest initiative marks a strategic shift in how Nigeria confronts financial crime. If fully implemented, the sub-30-minute response target could redefine fraud management standards and significantly weaken the operating space for digital fraudsters.