Reported by: Oahimire Omone Precious | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian Communications Commission have signed a landmark memorandum of understanding to combat SIM related fraud and strengthen consumer protection across the nation’s rapidly expanding digital ecosystem. The agreement, signed on Monday at the CBN headquarters in Abuja, establishes a comprehensive framework for cooperation between the financial and telecommunications sectors, focusing on combating electronic fraud linked to mobile numbers, enhancing payment system integrity, and protecting consumers. The cornerstone of the initiative is the Telecom Identity Risk Management Portal, a secure data sharing platform that will provide banks, fintechs, and other financial institutions with real time visibility into the status of mobile numbers used for transactions, effectively blocking fraud attempts linked to SIM swaps, recycled lines, or blacklisted phone numbers.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso described the pact as a practical statement of national interest, noting that the increasing reliance on digital channels for payments and financial services required stronger collaboration between both regulators. “This MoU is not merely an administrative document. It is a practical statement of national interest,” Cardoso said, adding that the agreement would reinforce the stability and integrity of Nigeria’s payment system while supporting innovation and consumer safety. He explained that the deal would strengthen coordination on approvals, technical standards, and innovation trials, including sandbox testing, to ensure that financial services remain reliable and scalable. Cardoso also emphasised that addressing the rising threat of electronic fraud requires joined up action, including shared intelligence, clearer escalation paths, stronger operational readiness across regulated entities, and consistent public education.
The Telecom Identity Risk Management Portal represents a significant technological leap forward in fraud prevention. According to officials, the platform will aggregate data on churned or recycled lines and numbers flagged for suspicious activities, enabling financial institutions to determine in real time whether a line is active, swapped, disconnected, reassigned to another subscriber, or blacklisted. This capability is critical because fraudsters have increasingly exploited vulnerabilities in the mobile number ecosystem to gain unauthorised access to bank accounts. In a typical SIM swap attack, criminals trick or bribe telecom agents into reissuing a victim’s phone number to a new SIM card, then intercept one time passwords sent via SMS to bypass security and drain accounts. With the new portal, banks will be able to query the status of a mobile number before approving transactions, flagging recent swaps or suspicious activity and blocking fraudulent transactions before they occur.
NCC Executive Vice Chairman Aminu Maida described the agreement as an important milestone in the regulatory stewardship of Nigeria’s digital economy, stressing that collaboration between both institutions was not optional but imperative. “The signing of this Memorandum of Understanding marks an important milestone in the regulatory stewardship of Nigeria’s digital economy,” Maida said.
He noted that the initiative would give financial institutions better visibility into the status of phone numbers used in transactions, including whether a line had been swapped, recycled, or flagged for fraudulent activity. “This ensures that our financial services industry is better equipped with timely and relevant information to effectively combat e-fraud, particularly those perpetrated using phone numbers,” he added. Maida also highlighted that the agreement would improve consumer protection, assuring Nigerians that issues such as failed airtime recharges would be resolved more quickly under the new framework.
The scale of the fraud problem in Nigeria is substantial. A recent report by PwC estimates that nearly 59 percent of e-banking users have experienced some form of fraud, underscoring the urgency for coordinated action. Globally, telecom related fraud losses reached an estimated $38.95 billion in 2023. In Nigeria, data from the NCC indicates that telecom linked financial crimes resulted in losses of approximately N12.5 billion between 2019 and early 2023. The rapid adoption of digital channels, including USSD and mobile banking, has expanded financial inclusion but also widened the attack surface for fraudsters. Social engineering tactics remain a major driver of fraud incidents, with attackers exploiting human vulnerabilities alongside technological gaps. The new CBN NCC partnership directly addresses these vulnerabilities by creating a data sharing bridge between the two sectors, closing longstanding gaps that fraudsters have exploited.
Beyond fraud prevention, the agreement also establishes a permanent governance structure to ensure sustained implementation. Two joint committees will be created, the Joint Committee on Payment Systems and Consumer Protection, and the Joint Committee on the Telecom Identity Risk Management Portal. These bodies are tasked with moving the partnership beyond policy intentions to measurable outcomes, resolving operational frictions, recommending improvements, and reporting progress. The partnership also promises immediate relief for Nigerian consumers regarding service disputes, with Maida pointing out that issues such as airtime recharges that fail to deliver value will now be resolved within the shortest possible timeframe.
Industry analysts have welcomed the initiative, describing it as a potential game changer in tackling fraud schemes that rely on SIM swaps or recycled numbers, issues that have led to rising consumer complaints and financial losses in recent years.
The move signals a broader regulatory shift toward tighter integration of Nigeria’s digital infrastructure, as authorities seek to build trust in electronic payments and expand financial inclusion. With mobile numbers increasingly serving as the gateway to banking and digital services, the success of the initiative will depend on how effectively both sectors maintain accurate, secure, and up to date subscriber data while ensuring strict compliance with Nigeria’s data protection laws, including encryption and consent protocols.
The agreement builds on years of evolving collaboration between the two regulators. The Director of Payment System Supervision at the CBN, Dr Rakiya Yusuf, traced the relationship back to earlier efforts to align mobile payment regulations and telecom licensing frameworks, including the 2018 MoU that enabled telecom operators to participate in mobile money services through special purpose vehicles.
She also highlighted joint interventions such as the resolution of the USSD pricing dispute and the introduction of a N6.98 per session fee, as well as recent efforts to address failed transactions through a proposed 30 second refund framework. The new MoU represents the most comprehensive and technologically advanced phase of this partnership, moving from parallel oversight to a fully integrated framework for securing Nigeria’s digital and financial systems.
As Nigeria continues its march toward a cashless economy, with instant payments, QR based systems, and open banking gaining traction, the integrity of the financial system has become inextricably linked to the resilience of telecommunications networks and secure data flows. The CBN NCC partnership, if properly implemented, could become a key pillar in Nigeria’s push toward a more secure, inclusive, and trusted digital economy. For millions of Nigerians who rely on mobile phones for banking, payments, and identity, the new portal offers hope that the days of SIM swap fraud and unauthorised account access may finally be numbered.
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