PalmPay Raises Concern over Increasing Rate of Cyber Fraud

Following the penetration of digital payment platforms in Africa, a fraud epidemic has plagued the Fintech ecosystem in Nigeria, with Mobile, Web and Point of Sales (P0S) terminals being the most exploited channels by fraudsters in the country in 2023, PalmPay, a Fintech company has said.

Making reference to the 2023 NIBSS Annual Fraud Landscape report, where incidents of fraud loss via Internet Banking increased by 325 per cent between 2022 and 2023, PalmPay said the rise of digital payment platforms in Nigeria has increased the potential for cyber fraud, with Fintech companies now forced to balance between making payment apps user-friendly and prioritising users’ safety to stem increased cyber fraud.

To address the fraud epidemic, the Fintech Association of Nigeria (FintechNGR) plans to unveil a fraud reporting framework sometime this year, while Fintech platforms such as PalmPay continue to take the initiative to re-evaluate their in-app safety features to protect their users from the activities of fraudsters.

Since launching in Nigeria in 2019 under a Mobile Money Operator (MMO) licence by CBN, PalmPay has grown to over 30 million users as part of its payment ecosystem.

In building a user-friendly app, PalmPay has also sought to foster a secure financial ecosystem by integrating safety features into its app so that the millions of users who transact with the app do so in a safe and trusted environment.

Managing Director, PalmPay, Chika Nwosu, said the reason why the Fintech platform has witnessed astonishing growth in four years was because “We prioritise the safety and security of our users.” He said they’ve been able to achieve this by “marrying security and safety with the customer experience to create a balance.”

Because it understands that curtailing fraud is a two-way street, PalmPay runs a

Wallet Safety Workshop to teach users of its app and POS machines various security topics covering payment security and common security issues in daily life, such as password management, fraud detection, phishing and risk identification, Nwosu said.

To encourage PalmPay users to meet the CBN deadline of January 31, 2024, PalmPay introduced an incentive payment system where up to N500 was paid to users who got ahead of the deadline and validated their wallet information.