How tech spend helps four banks block N14.5bn fraud losses in 2025

Nigeria’s leading banks are pouring hundreds of billions of naira into technology and cybersecurity to contain rising fraud risks as digital payments hit record levels, with four major lenders successfully blocking about N14.5 billion in potential losses last year.

Access Holdings Plc, Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (GTCO), United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA), and Wema Bank Plc faced combined attempted fraud of roughly N17.5 billion in 2025 but limited actual losses to a fraction of that amount through improved detection and response systems.

The three largest: Access, GTCO and UBA, reported N10.29 billion linked to fraud incidents, of which only 20.66 percent became actual losses of N2.13 billion.

This means they prevented or recovered about N8.16 billion. Wema Bank separately thwarted around 88 percent of attempts, blocking roughly N6.34 billion out of N7.19 billion involved, despite actual losses of N847.6 million.

Overall, the four banks saved customers and shareholders an estimated N14.5 billion that fraudsters tried to extract.

Technology investments are now delivering measurable returns in fraud interception.

Access Holdings, GTCO and UBA collectively spent N280.90 billion ($206 million) on technology in 2025. The outlay covered cybersecurity systems, real-time fraud monitoring tools, advanced customer authentication, and transaction security upgrades. Wema Bank also ramped up digital investments to support its fast-growing ALAT platform, which processed over 162 million transactions worth N11.4 trillion.

These investments are paying off even as transaction volumes surge. Four big commercial banks: GTCO, UBA, First Bank and Zenith, processed N286.19 trillion through mobile apps alone in 2025, according to Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) data.

Electronic channels dominated fraud attempts. At UBA, electronic fraud made up 99.91 percent of its 26,400 cases. Fraudulent transfers accounted for nearly 36 percent of its actual losses. Access saw electronic cases drop sharply by 47.74 percent to 5,931, though cash theft, though rare, contributed disproportionately to value lost.

GTCO reported a 30 percent rise in the value of fraud incidents and a 69 percent increase in actual losses despite fewer cases, showing fraudsters are targeting higher values per attack.

Wema Bank’s experience highlighted a different vulnerability. Its fraud losses jumped to N847.6 million from N29.45 million in 2024, with 96 percent stemming from operations and internal processes rather than digital channels. Digital fraud losses stayed low at under N30.5 million despite massive transaction growth.

“While external cyber defences held strong, internal control gaps proved costly,” the bank’s financial statements indicated.

Wema’s CEO Moruf Oseni noted continuous review of internal controls and a whistleblowing framework to tackle insider risk.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has responded with stricter oversight. Banks must now submit monthly fraud returns under the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act. In 2025, the CBN directed NIBSS to debit institutions receiving proceeds of fraudulent transactions and tightened onboarding with mandatory liveness verification and device-binding.

Regulators are pushing banks and fintechs from mere transaction processing to active policing using artificial intelligence for real-time monitoring and suspicious device detection.

Fraud reporting fell 34 percent in the final quarter of 2025, and overall digital payment fraud losses across the industry declined significantly.

Telecom operators face growing pressure to share data for real-time phone-number risk flagging.

Despite these measures, the average loss per successful incident rose to N44,454 from N40,488 the prior year, showing fraudsters’ growing sophistication. Total fraud incidents across the system stood at 67,518, according to NIBSS.

However, fraud losses remain tiny relative to scale. For instance, in the case of Wema bank, the N848 million loss was less than 0.4 percent of gross earnings.

Industry experts say the combination of heavy tech spend and regulatory pressure is embedding fraud management as a core operating cost in Nigeria’s cashless push.

According to experts, banks that invest early in layered defences like technology plus governance, are seeing better interception rates, but as volumes grow, constant vigilance remains essential.

Access, GTCO, UBA and Wema continue expanding digital offerings while tightening controls. Their 2025 results show that substantial tech budgets, paired with CBN-mandated reforms, can contain fraud even in a high-volume environment.

The broader challenge is balancing innovation speed with security in one of Africa’s largest digital payment markets. Banks, regulators, and customers will likely share the costs of this transition for years to come.