Globally, card fraud is on the rise reaching US$21.84 billion in 2015, with an expected peak in 2018 of US$31.26 billion. It is estimated that globally, nearly 1 in 3 consumers are victimized by card fraud, with almost 1 in 5 consumers experiencing fraud multiple times in the past five years.

These fraud events erode consumer trust in their banks and generate losses for multiple parties including banks and merchants.

While a general upsurge in financial services-related fraud has been reported, it is quite encouraging to note that empirical data reveals that losses to fraud within the Nigerian banking system have reduced within the last few years.

Thanks to various technologies and regulatory initiatives, the Nigerian banking system appears to be improving in terms of fraud.

This is further supported by The Central Bank of Nigeria’s Banking and Payment Systems Department reporting that actual losses, as a result of fraud in bank transactions, dropped from N6.2 billion in 2014 to about N2.3 billion in 2015.

In a proactive bid to further consolidate the positive trend and promote lasting solutions to mitigate financial fraud in Nigeria, Interswitch partnered with Tranwall, an international leader in transaction security and control with a highly-skilled development team, and WEMA bank to launch Wema Card Control in December 2015 – a pioneering feature in the Nigerian market that allows cardholders to take control of their card security in a way that is customizable and easy to use.

Commenting on this, Mrs Chinyere Don-Okhuofu, Divisional CEO of Interswitch Industry Vertical Markets said: “At Interswitch, we fully understand the need for better security measures especially regarding card fraud.

Tranwall’s technology is a perfect fit for our market, providing complete card base coverage, and support for both legacy feature phones and smartphones. We need partners with the right technology and resources as well as partners who are as committed to the cause of fraud eradication as we are. For us, Card control has been another outstanding rollout, deployed in record time. We are proud to continue to deliver and lead in the space of Card Control. We’ve seen a fantastic uptake in the technology and without question, Wema Bank has proven the value of Card Control for all stakeholders. We’re extremely proud to be partnering with Tranwall in implementing this ground-breaking initiative.”

Speaking about the development, Dele Adeyinka, Head-E-business at Wema Bank said: “In launching Card Control, we wanted to deliver innovation that was secure, easy to use and would improve the customer experience. Since the implementation, we’ve seen a reduction of over 70% in card fraud, an increase in card spend by over 50%, and positive growth in new customers of over 27%. Interswitch and Tranwall promised to deliver and they did, and that’s not something you see often when rolling out new solutions.”

The implementation of Card Control by Interswitch heralds a new era for payment security in Nigeria, as it was the first time such safety measures were deployed in the country, thus empowering customers with the ability to secure their cards.

Cardholders in Wema bank for example use the WemaMobile Banking Suite (available on iPhone, Android, Blackberry and Windows Mobile), SMS or Internet banking to switch their cards ON or OFF, or to secure and control specific transaction types, such as Travel, Web purchases, In-store purchases or ATM withdrawals.

“Tranwall Transaction Control provides a richer and more customer-centric solution to banking customers, allowing cardholders to be part of fraud prevention by enabling them to secure their cards via their mobile phones. We are proud to be working with Interswitch in making payments more mobile, customer-centric and improving the cardholder security and experience in Nigeria.” says Aurelien Duarte, CEO of Tranwall.

This development will gradually stabilise the future of digital financial services by giving zero or no room for fraudulent activities, thereby stimulating growth and stability within the banking industry as well as promoting a good relationship between the customers and the bank.