At the Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum (NeFF) Annual Dinner and Awards, which held in Lagos recently, Skye Bank Plc has emerged “The Most Committed Watch Listing Bank in Nigeria”
This was confirmed in an industry-wide survey administered by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in conjunction with NIBBS.
NeFF is a forum where financial services stakeholders – banks and other organisations within the financial and payment systems meet on a quarterly basis to deliberate on issues of electronic fraud and its prevention.
The prestigious award, which is in recognition of efforts of the banking industry in the fight against electronic fraud is presented to the institution “with the most efficient and robust system for tracking all forms of electronic fraud and arresting perpetrators for prosecution.”
The challenge of securing the Nigerian Payments System will always be a daunting task, as with the ease of payment comes greater adoption, and with increased adoption, the lure of cybercriminals, who seek to convert either digital asset or resources or both to their own, becomes even greater.
Speaking at the event, the NeFF Chairman, Dipo Fatokun, who is also the Director, Banking and Payment System in CBN, explained that “an effective fight against fraud is not without robust awareness programme; not only for members of the public, but also for staff of organisations that operate within the Payment Space.
He further stressed the importance of starting the awareness programme in 2017, “as this would help the industry reduce cost of fraud through increased vigilance and detection abilities,” he said.
On the credibility of the process that led to the emergence of Skye Bank as the winner of the award, “the Central Bank of Nigeria in collaboration with NIBBS carried out a survey to rate the performance of all banks in the fight against electronic fraud. According to him, most banks, in their response, acknowledged Skye Bank as the most committed bank when it comes to tracking fraud and arresting perpetrators.”
Skye Bank runs its core banking ICT applications on one of the most advanced, and highly secured and scalable technology software, adjudged by cyber practitioners as consistent with the practice by other financial giants in most advanced economies of the world.
Receiving the award on behalf of the Bank, the Executive Director, Lagos Commercial Banking Directorate, Mrs. Markie Idowu, thanked the organisers of the award and used the opportunity to canvass for collaboration amongst stakeholders, noting that this remained the only way to effectively tackle the spate of electronic fraud in the industry.
Skye Bank, a Systematically Important Bank (SIB), with strong market share and relative interconnectedness, occupies a sensitive role in the financial industry in Nigeria and West Africa.
