By Bayo Ademola
The Central Bank of Nigeria has announced that banks across the country have agreed to reduce fraud response times to under 30 minutes in a major step to improve recovery of stolen funds and limit financial losses.
The Deputy Governor of the CBN in charge of Financial System Stability, Mr Philip Ikeazor, made this known at the 2026 Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum Technical Kick-Off Session in Lagos.
According to the CBN, the move comes as fraud tactics evolve from traditional ATM card cloning to more sophisticated methods such as online scams, social engineering, SIM-swap fraud and insider compromise.
Mr Ikeazor said the introduction of the Bank Verification Number and its integration with the National Identification Number has significantly reduced identity-related fraud by closing loopholes previously exploited by criminals.
He added that banks now operate 24-hour fraud desks, mandatory two-factor authentication systems and a standardised framework for tackling authorised push payment scams.
The CBN also said Nigeria’s migration to global payment standards under ISO 20022 will further strengthen fraud detection through improved data transparency and transaction traceability.
Officials of the Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum said collaboration among banks, regulators, telecom operators and security agencies has strengthened the country’s payment system and boosted public confidence in electronic transactions.
The CBN warned that rising fraud losses must be reversed and called for stronger monitoring, faster response systems and real-time identity verification across all banking platforms.
The regulator says the new 30-minute fraud response target will help protect customers, strengthen trust in digital banking and safeguard Nigeria’s financial system.
