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Big Data: Fraud, Finances

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Financial institutions have been working hard to implement technologies which better protect them and their customers.

Innovations such as chip and PIN have made cards more secure, while the introduction of two-factor authentication has also greatly helped.

However, none of these systems are perfect and fraud levels continue to rise in many countries.

Fortunately this is an area where big data can make a significant difference.

 Fraud detection relies upon the use of both relational data and non-relational data – structured and unstructured data.

 Banks know where our home branch is and they know within a standard range of incidences how often we take out money or use our cards.

They know where we work and the types of transactions we make most commonly. These known quantities form part of the fraud detection process.

 The unpredictability of humans….

But the nature of human beings is that we do not always stick to the path most travelled. Consider a man buying an engagement ring. This is a perfect example of something which many people may only ever do once in their lives.

Looked at in terms of that data point it appears to be an entirely random act.

A man on the hunt for an engagement ring may never even have set foot in a jewellers shop in his life.

He will almost certainly have never spent a month’s wages on a single item of jewellery. In the world of data analysis such screaming anomalies should be cause for concern.

So why are more people not challenged when making this kind of transaction? Because it is incumbent upon banks not to leave us frustrated or without cash in our hour of need.

The man buying an engagement ring may have enough on his mind without having his card declined at the point of sale. For every transaction, a bank or a card issuer is dynamically analysing data and weighing up the risk of fraud.

The key lies of course in big data.

There are many types of data, unrelated even to the individual which can quickly be referenced – in split seconds thanks to the power with which big data is processed – from data relevant to that individual, such as past travel habits, to data relevant to the nature of the suspect transaction.

Patterns of where fraud has been conducted and past behaviours of the rightful card owner are a key element in detecting and predicting fraud, to the extent that diverse frauds can be traced quickly back to specific businesses where a rogue employee may be stealing card numbers or cloning cards.

Banks now have that reservoir of data related to fraudulent activity and quickly assess the likelihood of transactions being suspect.

Back to our hopeful man shopping for an engagement ring, he may go unchallenged because that reservoir of data shows that very few fraudsters try to conduct card fraud in jewellery shops. This may be because of high levels of CCTV coverage in such shops.

…is actually quite predictable

Believe it or not, the apparently unusual purchase of engagement rings is actually fairly predictable. Somebody may never have bought an engagement ring before, but his card issuer may see from his profile that he fits the bill of somebody due to.

A recent mortgage, an increased focus on saving, a second name appearing on a credit card, an expensive holiday in contrast to the budget breaks or golf holidays he has been on with his friends in the past, regular outlay on home furniture which suggests he is setting up home with somebody, a move from a sporadic expenditure on food to a more structured approach which suggests more nights in at home, less time spent in bars, more time in restaurants.

These are all behaviours which become powerful data points in the overall modelling of customer profiles.

He may think his purchase of an engagement ring is extraordinary and a huge step but his bank – or at least the data it holds – may have been able to tell it was coming for some time.

 Ultimately, data has the ability to look at us dispassionately and non-judgmentally. We may think it outrageous that we celebrate a birthday once a year by spending over the odds on dinner at a fancy restaurant we’d never normally visit on any other day of the year.

But if this is something we only do once a year then the data barely needs to be sweated to find an answer as to whether this is fraudulent behaviour.

Once per year may seem occasional to us, or even out of character, because it is at odds to the way we behave on the other 364 days of the year, but the data sees a creature of habit.

It knows it’s our birthday – not least because our date of birth is among the relational data held about us. That fact can easily be linked to any spike in spending on that date.

Even our one-off purchases are almost certainly not as one-off as we think. Most people exercise a degree of financial caution and display behaviours our banks will be able to understand from the data they collect and analyse.

We may only buy one engagement ring in our lives but the money spent on that engagement ring will almost certainly be within a predictable parameter based on our salary, our regular outgoings and the value of our mean and median purchases and the statistical outliers we will have created with purchases such as a car or a house.

All of this means that the vast majority of our spending is reassuringly predictable.

The insights into our behaviour that big data analysis brings about provides a clear benchmark against which fraudulent activity can be rapidly identified and shut down. 

Adebayo Sanni is country director at Oracle

 


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Nigeria CommunicationsWeek believes that technology makes life more exciting and helps improve the lives of people around Nigeria and indeed the world. So since 2007, we have devoted our energy to independent reportage of technology and how they affect lives.

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Broadcasting

MTN Launches One TV with Free-to-View, Pay-as-You-Go

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MTN Group has begun rolling out MTN One TV, a new entertainment proposition designed to make digital video content more accessible, relevant, and flexible for customers across African markets.

MTN Launches One TV with Free-to-View, Pay-as-You-Go

Introduced in line with MTN’s Ambition 2030 strategy, MTN One TV brings together local storytelling, live channels, international programming, and market-specific viewing options tailored to how customers across the continent access and pay for digital entertainment.

The proposition is designed to give customers greater choice in how they watch content, with viewing models that may vary by market and can include free-to-view content, advertising-funded experiences, pay-as-you-watch access, and subscription offerings.

Depending on local availability, customers may also be able to pay through airtime, Mobile Money, and other locally supported payment methods, helping to reduce common barriers to streaming access.

Beyond enhancing customer experiences, MTN One TV creates new opportunities for African creators, broadcasters, advertisers, and ecosystem partners by helping connect content to wider audiences through MTN’s scale across connectivity, payments, and digital services.

By bringing together a broad mix of content experiences under a single proposition, MTN aims to support greater content discovery, broader audience reach, and sustainable growth across Africa’s digital entertainment ecosystem.

Anchored in MTN’s strategic platforms of Connectivity, Fintech, and Digital Infrastructure, MTN One TV forms part of the Group’s broader ambition to build digital experiences that create value for customers while enabling participation and growth across Africa’s digital economy.

“Entertainment is increasingly becoming an important gateway to digital participation,” said Selorm Adadevoh, MTN group chief commercial, strategy and transformation officer.

“Through MTN One TV, we are leveraging the scale of our connectivity, fintech, and digital capabilities to make relevant content more accessible while creating new opportunities for Africa’s creative and digital economies. This is aligned with our ambition to deliver digital solutions for Africa’s progress.”

MTN One TV is being introduced progressively across MTN markets through a phased rollout approach that reflects local market needs, existing services, and partnership opportunities.

Over time, MTN will bring together a combination of video capabilities, content partnerships, and customer experiences under the MTN One TV brand to create a more consistent and scalable entertainment proposition across its footprint.

Through MTN One TV, MTN continues to extend its role beyond connectivity by combining entertainment, payments, and digital services to deliver experiences tailored to the needs of African consumers.

The rollout supports MTN’s Ambition 2030 vision of leading digital solutions for Africa’s progress while expanding access to digital entertainment across the continent.

 


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Telecom

Telcos Compensate 75m Subscribers over Poor Network Quality – NCC

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Telecom operators in Nigeria have compensated more than 75 million subscribers for poor network services, according to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

Telcos Compensate 75m Subscribers over Poor Network Quality – NCC

This represents one of the largest consumer redress exercises in Africa’s biggest mobile market.

Recall that the NCC on March 29, 2026, mandated that mobile network operators directly credit affected subscribers with airtime when network quality falls below established thresholds, compensating for dropped calls, failed SMS, and disrupted data connections.

Giving update, the NCC rising from its 109th board meeting recently, said that the credits are calculated based on customers’ average spending patterns in areas where service quality fell below regulatory benchmarks.

“The board noted substantial progress in the implementation of the commission’s directive, particularly the full compliance, which has resulted in compensation being offered to over 75 million affected subscribers,” the communiqué stated.

The NCC said it is still conducting independent validation to confirm that all eligible subscribers received their due compensation, while urging consumers to continue engaging with the regulator on service-related issues.

Nigeria currently has over 200 million mobile subscriptions.

The exercise addresses long-standing consumer complaints about dropped calls, slow data speeds, and inconsistent coverage.

The board also reviewed ongoing network expansion efforts, noting that operators have committed to deploying over 12,000 new sites, with more than 5,000 already completed.

It further highlighted investments in fibre infrastructure and concerns over persistent vandalism of telecom facilities.

The NCC reiterated its commitment to improving service quality through stricter enforcement, consumer protection, and infrastructure development in the sector.

 

 


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General News

IMF Warns Nigeria of Risks in $5Bn Swap Deal with ‌First Abu Dhabi Bank

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The IMF on Tuesday warned of risks surrounding Nigeria’s plan to borrow up to $5 billion through a derivatives agreement with ‌First Abu Dhabi Bank, saying such transactions are often opaque and complex.

IMF Warns Nigeria of Risks in $5Bn Swap Deal with ‌First Abu Dhabi Bank

Recall that the Senate in April gave its approval to the agreement, joining other Africa borrowers like Senegal and Angola who have tapped similar arrangements over the past year.

“Our view is that the transaction in these types of structures carry risks. Usually they are opaque so the terms are not always very transparent when we reviewed these instruments ​across countries,” Christian Ebeke, IMF resident representative in Nigeria, told reporters.

Ebeke said Nigeria could instead issue eurobonds to finance its deficits or other means to raise funding, including on concessional terms.

Nigeria intends to use proceeds from the total return swap, or TRS, to refinance expensive debt and pay for infrastructure.

In its latest Article IV review, the Fund praised Nigeria’s sweeping reforms, saying they had strengthened economic stability and investor confidence, but warned that the benefits had ‌yet to reach millions of citizens and could be undermined by global shocks, including the Middle East conflict.

The reforms since 2023 under President Bola Tinubu – including fuel subsidy removal, tighter monetary policy and exchange rate liberalisation – had rebuilt buffers and improved macroeconomic management, the IMF said.

However, it cautioned that the reforms were also contributing to social strain, with poverty levels at 63% and millions facing food insecurity, underscoring a widening gap between macro gains and household realities.

The IMF said improved policy credibility and forex reforms had helped Nigeria regain access to international capital markets and attract portfolio inflows, while reducing risk premiums. The central bank says gross reserves are at $50 billion, the highest in 17 years.

But reliance on volatile foreign portfolio investment poses rollover risks, the IMF said, urging a shift towards more stable, long-term capital such as foreign direct investment.


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