Approximately ninety-three workers were fired by Nigerian banks last year due to fraud-related incidents. In the Nigerian banking sector, fraud losses totaling around N10.7 billion were reported in 2023–2024.
In two years, bank employees embezzle N44 billion.
According to data from the Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC), during the period under review, about 318 incidences of staff collaboration in fraud were reported by Nigerian banks.
Continuing, the Nigerian financial industry has seen an increase in internal fraud in recent years, according to the research. Citing a BusinessDay article which claims that over the course of two years, an employee of a tier-1 bank allegedly stole N44 billion.
The bank said it alerted the state police command about fraudulent transactions occurring both inside and outside the bank in a letter to the commissioner of state police in Lagos. It asked that an investigation be launched by the police to identify the circumstances behind the fraud and identify the perpetrators.
Rise to 318 incidents of insider fraud
Because of a commercial bank’s N2.4 billion internal fraud on corporate accounts, internet banking fraud increased by 325% between 2022 and 2023, according to a recent report from Nigeria’s central switch system, the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS). Moreover, reports state that during the previous year, 74,978 fraud incidents were reported.
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Additionally, during the evaluation period, there were 318 occurrences of insider fraud involvement and 67,712 cases of outsider fraud involvement, indicating the growing threats to the financial system from outside sources. 24 commercial banks and financial organisations provided the data to FITC.
The top three fraud sources
According to the research, the three most prevalent types of fraudulent behaviour are related to PoS, mobile, and computer/web. Experts surmise that the recent spike in fraud instances is a result of the widespread use of digital payment platforms and channels. According to NIBSS’s 2023 fraud report, 80,658 bank customers were successfully conned by scammers during the year. The most susceptible channels for scammers are now mobile ones.
As a deterrence to fraudsters, experts recommended banks and financial services organisations to report fraud incidents transparently.
The top 11 banks in terms of employee salaries
According to a recent article by local news brand, in the first nine months of 2023, Access Holdings and FBN Holdings had the highest staff salary costs when compared to other commercial banks.
Employee expenses are the costs incurred by the business for the welfare and compensation of its employees over a given time period. These costs include salary and wages as well as other benefits like health insurance, pensions, and training.
