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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has projected that the actual loss value due to electronic banking fraud in the country will reach N6.1 trillion by 2021. Sunday Salam-Alada, Director of Consumer Protection Department (CPD) at the CBN, made this disclosure on Wednesday while speaking at a workshop for Business Editors and Finance Correspondents Association of Nigeria (FICAN) in Benin City, Edo State.

Salam-Alada said emerging financial technologies and the rise in different channels and modes of payment are facilitating the rapid growth in the volume and value of electronic transactions in Nigeria and around the world.

According to the CBN, 1.4 billion transactions with a value of N97.4 trillion were processed in 2017 as against 869 million transactions with a value of N69.1 trillion recorded in 2016.

These developments have also attracted unscrupulous practices that bank customers need to be protected against. For instance, in 2016, there were 19,531 cases of banking fraud reported to the CBN. This rose by 28 percent to 25,043 in 2017, according to Salam-Alada.

Earlier in June, the CBN's Director, Banking and Payment System, Dipo Fatokun, had said cases of electronic banking fraud were on the increase, having risen to N5.571 billion between 2015 and 2017. Fatokun said fraud carried out through ATM channels rose from N355.89 million in 2015 to N497.643 million in 2017.

The CBN Director of the CPD also said the apex bank resolved over 13,715 e-banking fraud complaints out of 25,043 cases of fraud in 2017. This intervention, Salam-Alada said, has resulted in the refund of about N72.2 billion to customers by the commercial banks.

According to him, actual fraud loss value in 2017 declined by 24 percent to N1.63 billion, compared to the previous year. The Director also mentioned that the apex bank will soon issue a framework on consumer protection in the banking system.