CeBIH Moves to Combat Fraud in Electronic Payment

Emma Okonji

The Committee of e-Business Industry Heads (CeBIH) has stated its readiness to collaborate with Private and Public Sector Agencies to tackle electronic payment fraud in Nigeria.

The Chairman of CeBIH, Celestina Appeal, who stated this at a recent conference of the CeBIH, which held in Lagos, said the fight against electronic payment fraud, remained the responsibility of all.

According to her, the promotion of a unified front in combating fraud through an active collaboration between providers of financial services, the Law Enforcement Agencies, the Judiciary, and Regulators, has become imperative in restoring the confidence of consumers in the Nigerian payment system.

She added that CeBIH would remain committed in leading the engagements and interactions with the identified partners to harness capabilities across the ecosystem in order to rid the Nigerian payment system of the menace of fraud. 

Other speakers at the conference agreed that the growing concern about the increasing trend of Electronic/Digital Financial Services fraud and the attendant leakage of monetary value in Nigeria’s Payment Value Chain, require the need for collaboration for an effective fight against electronic fraud in line with the theme of the Conference – ‘Leveraging Ecosystem Synergy to Combat Fraud’.

The conference was attended by representatives of Banks, the Central Bank of Nigeria, Payment Switching and Processing Companies, Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), Microfinance Banks, Merchant Banks, Payment Service Banks, Payment Terminal Service Providers (PTSPs), Fintechs, Industry Associations., Consulting Firms, among others.

The Committee of e-Business Industry Heads comprises of heads of electronic and digital banking in Nigeria with its primary objective of promoting digital financial services in line with global best practices and the implementation of right policies, standards, technologies, and public awareness programs. The members of the committee are responsible for the implementation of strategies that drive electronic and mobile payments across the various banks in Nigeria.