Committee of Chief Internal Auditors of Banks in Nigeria (CCIABN) has solicited increased collaboration in the sharing of information within the industry in an effort to tackle the growing incidence of fraud in the sector.
At its seventh annual retreat/conference and general meeting of members in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, the committee noted that curbing fraudsters had become a major challenge facing the industry against the backdrop of the ongoing digitisation of banking operations.
Samuel Ekanem, chairman, sub-committee on research and publication, told BusinessDay at the sidelines that the chief internal auditors had a key role in ensuring that depositors funds were safe and ensuring that fraud levels were reduced to the minimum in the banking system.
Ekanem, who expressed concern that fraudsters had taken advantage of the speed at which banking transactions were taking place to move money illegally across the banks, said with the movement from manual to electronic operations, the sector needed to be fully equipped to deal with the challenges.
Noting however that fraud in the sector was not limited to Nigeria, he said safeguards needed to be in place to boost confidence in the industry.
“We have fraud running into billions in the industry and the incidence has also been rising with the computerisation and electronic banking, though not limited to Nigeria alone but it is a loss to the economy,’’ he said.
Steps have been taken within the system to ensure that internal fraud is kept at the lowest ebb by ensuring that those hired in the industry are people of integrity through background checks, he said.
Denying that the frauds are perpetrated with the support and knowledge of inside sources, Ekanem said in terms of significance, “the significant percentage of the fraud is coming from externally induced sources,” adding that solutions were being provided to deal with fraud in the system through training and hiring of people of impeccable character and solicited cooperation and collaboration within the industry in an effort to boost the confidence in the economy.
According to him, the use of the bank verification number would also help to reduce the high incidence of fraud in the sector.
Declaring the conference open, Governor Godswill Akpabio described the banking sector as being a critical component in the development of the economy, saying “it plays an important role in the promotion of economic growth and development.”
Akpabio, who was represented by his deputy, Valerie Ebe, lauded the Central Bank of Nigeria for the banking sector reforms he said had restored confidence of Nigerians in the sector.
Akpabio, who noted that the idea of banking and knowledge of customers were all structured around branches and product line, said the “future of banking is in digital banking,” however expressed regret that only 40 percent of the retail banking activities had been digitalised.
“This is not ideal for the future of banking in Nigeria. The banks must consider the digitalisation of all aspects of their transactions. It is only in this lies the future of banking. This is the direction that the banking industry must take. This is the future of banking and the path our banking industry must toe,’’ he said.
ANIEFIOK UDONQUAK
