Logos of some Nigerian banks
By Tony Folarin
The Association of Mobile Money and Bank Agents in Nigeria (AMMBAN) on Thursday revealed that Nigerian Banks were ripped off by fraudsters to the tune of N42.6 billion within the second quarter of 2024.
AMMBAN national president, Fasasi Sarafadeen Atanda quoting Financial Institutions Training Center (FITC) stated that the losses were traced to agent locations through the use of stolen cards, phones, fake alerts and ransom cash out.
Atanda, who made this known at the 8th Annual National Conference of AMMBAN in Benin City, Edo State with the theme “Match Data With Actions” said that to stem the tide AMMBAN has introduced an automated verifiable identity card for agents and launched a Joint Task Force (JTF) in conjunction with the Office of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), DSS, NSCDC and other security agencies.
According to him, “The 8th AMMBAN annual national conference is unique as it is meant to match data with actions.
“But on the ground, over 300 local government areas in Nigeria are without bank branches (AMMBAN Survey, 2024). While access to commercial banks are of concern. CBN recent regulation on mandatory BVN and/or NIN for owning an account or a wallet requires the presence of bank branches, because they are majorly the structures enabled for BVN enrollment/modification.
