The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has raised concerns over increasing fraudulent activities in the Nigerian financial sector, particularly among the unbanked, underserved and middle class populations.
This was revealed in a statement by the EFCC. Ola Olukoyede, Chairman of the EFCC, highlighted these concerns during a recent engagement with stakeholders in Abuja.
He attributed this trend to the negligence of some fintech companies in implementing robust know-your-customer (KYC) protocols.
Olukoyede noted that many fintech companies do not adhere to strict KYC guidelines, especially when onboarding customers for first-tier accounts. He stressed that this negligence creates vulnerabilities that are exploited by fraudsters.
“Olukoyede observed that there was a high level of poor internal control by fintechs at the unbanked, underserved and middle-class population level,” the statement said.
“There is a lot of fraud around this particular level, so the issue of KYC (Know Your Customer) is very important, especially because of the way fintechs open top-level accounts, sometimes without paying attention to KYC. And people take advantage of this and are quick to commit fraud through negligence,” Olukoyede said.
The EFCC Chairman stressed the importance for fintech companies to review their onboarding processes to avoid loopholes exploited by fraudsters.
Collaboration with the EFCC
Highlighting the role of fintech companies in combating fraud, Olukoyede called for increased cooperation between fintech operators and the EFCC.
He stressed that businesses must see themselves as stakeholders in the fight against corruption and respond quickly to regulatory requests.
“Increasing your level of collaboration with the EFCC would mean seeing yourselves as stakeholders in the fight against corruption. We would like you to respond to us when we ask questions and requests,” he said.
The EFCC expressed its willingness to partner with Moniepoint to address fraud challenges, stressing the importance of collaboration in the fight against financial crime.
“For our part, we are open to whatever you want us to do. We appreciate that you are here today to seek stronger connection and collaboration.
“When stakeholders come and want to participate in what we are doing, mainly stakeholders like you, it makes us happy because we know that no man can fight corruption alone. The collaboration you seek tells us that you want to strengthen your system; you want to be able to create more internal controls.
“You want to be able to put things in place that will mitigate the weaknesses that will lead to fraud within your system, that’s what we do. Our primary mandate is the repression and investigation of economic and financial crimes. So we are happy and want to collaborate with you,” he said.
