Nigeria digital payment fraud falls but costs $19M

Homepage > News > Finance > Nigeria digital payment fraud falls but costs $19M Nigeria’s digital payment fraud losses dropped by nearly half in 2025—but the Central Bank of Nigeria warns that systemic risks, interoperability failures, and a surge in targeted cyberattacks mean the country’s payment infrastructure remains dangerously exposed. Meanwhile, South Africa has published draft rules governing when residents can move cryptocurrency across borders. Nigeria: Fraud losses drop to $19M—but risks are deepening The Central Bank of Nigeria revealed that Nigerians have lost ₦25.85 billion ($18.85 million) to digital payment fraud in 2025—a significant decline from the ₦52.26 billion ($38.38 million) recorded in 2024, representing a near 50 percent reduction year-on-year. The CBN attributed the improvement to enhanced transaction monitoring, tighter controls, and the integration of Bank Verification Numbers (BVN) with National Identification Numbers (NIN)—a key identity-linking initiative that has made fraudulent account activity harder to conceal. “Though this was lower than ₦52.26 billion in the preceding year, it represented a substantial loss for PSPs,” the CBN stated. “T...