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BY ABU-SATAR HAMED
ABUJA, NIGERIA – The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has unveiled a new framework aimed at curbing the rising wave of fraud within the country’s financial sector.
Under the draft guidelines, customers must report fraudulent transactions within 72 hours, while banks and fintechs are now obligated to investigate and refund victims within a 16-working-day cycle.
The new directive follows a surge in financial fraud cases.
According to the Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC), fraud losses skyrocketed by 603% to ₦3.29 billion in Q1 2025, with reported cases rising to 12,347 – a 7.63% increase from the previous year.
Dated November 26, 2025, the draft guidelines focus on tightening preventive measures, enforcing stricter accountability for financial institutions, and ensuring quicker reimbursements for victims of Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud.
A circular signed by Rita Sike, Director of the Financial Policy and Regulation Department, emphasised the mandate for banks to strengthen fraud prevention and management processes once the guidelines are finalised.
This development is the latest step in the CBN’s decade-long campaign against financial fraud. The apex bank previously established the Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum (NeFF) in 2011, mandated fraud desks for customer support in 2015, and enforced stricter KYC protocols in 2023. In 2024, it also authorised the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) to debit accounts of banks harbouring fraud proceeds.
APP fraud occurs when customers are deceived into authorising payments – often through WhatsApp, SMS, email, or other channels – to fraudulent third-party accounts. The CBN notes that weak internal controls, negligence, failure to act on red flags, delayed resolutions, or staff collusion by financial institutions can contribute to such fraud.
Victims are required to report incidents within 72 hours, providing transaction details and supporting documentation. Banks must acknowledge reports within 24 hours and immediately commence investigations. During the process, the CBN may instruct NIBSS or other settlement entities to withhold full transaction amounts identified as fraudulent, even across multiple beneficiary institutions.
Investigations must conclude within 14 working days, with unresolved cases escalated to the CBN’s Consumer Protection and Financial Inclusion Department. Reimbursements are expected within 48 hours of investigation closure. Where multiple institutions are involved, the originating institution must initiate the investigation and notify others within 30 minutes. Refunds must be completed within 16 working days of the initial report.
Financial institutions that fail to detect or freeze fraudulent transactions due to inadequate systems will bear full liability. Where neither the customer nor the institutions are at fault, Banks will share refund responsibilities equally.
Customers qualify for reimbursement when they report promptly, act without negligence, and cooperate fully with investigations. They are not eligible if they acted fraudulently, were negligent, or reported after 72 hours – except in cases of illness, force majeure, unavailable reporting channels, or fraud caused by bank staff or internal failures.
Failure by Banks to conclude investigations within stipulated timelines will attract sanctions. Customers retain the right to escalate unresolved or unsatisfactory outcomes to the CBN, though providing false or misleading information will attract penalties for both individuals and institutions.
To support the rollout, financial institutions must maintain 24/7 fraud-reporting channels, deploy Early Warning Systems (EWS), flag suspicious accounts, monitor behavioural patterns, record fraud indicators, report APP fraud cases regularly to the CBN, and carry out financial-literacy initiatives.
The draft guideline is open to public and stakeholder feedback for three weeks. Once finalised, it will form a vital component of the CBN’s ongoing efforts to safeguard Nigeria’s financial system.
