E-Financial

Panic as Bankers, Fraudsters Empty Customers’ Accounts

Published

13 years ago

July 8, 2013

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Disturbing revelations at the weekend suggested that a worrying fraud scheme-the theft customers’ ID data by employees of financial institutions is on the rise.

Investigations showed that insiders in financial institutions in Nigeria are increasingly taking advantage of highly confidential information of customers and trading same to outsiders for illegal profits.

Experts said that the fraud ring involve longtime employees and top performers who abuse their positions of trust and exploit their access to multiple areas and systems of the banks’ systems.

With the help of people on the inside, the fraud ring are now able to recruit people to assume stolen identities and withdraw funds because they knew the banks affected did not have sufficient technology and security to safeguard the customers’ information or alert the institutions when it was stolen.

In another scheme, bank customers are promised shares of mouthwatering but fake riches in return for details of their bank accounts which are subsequently emptied.

There is also phishing mails that are, but not limited to Advance fee fraud, purchase frauds, counterfeit postal money orders, online automotive fraud, counterfeit cashier’s check scam, cash the check system, PayPal Fraud, business opportunity or “Work-at-Home” schemes, money transfer fraud, dating fraud, and charity fraud and boisterous employment promises.

Mr. Tunde Ogunsakin, Commissioner of Police in charge of the Force Special Fraud Unit, Ikoyi Lagos, said that from January this year, the unit investigated about 600 cases of fraud in financial institutions.

In all the cases, the frauds were committed in connivance with bank staff.

This came as the US State Department’s ‘Money Laundering Report 2013’ dubbed Nigeria as ‘a significant center for criminal financial activity.’

Matt Baechtle, leading a team of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the department of homeland security, to collaborate with SFU for the purpose of fine-tuning measures on how to tackle the threat posed by cyber-attackers, said that internet fraudsters and corrupt officials and business people, as well as criminal and terrorist organisations are allegedly taking advantage of the country’s location, porous borders, weak laws and lack of enforcement to perpetrate cyber-crime.

The introduction of the Money Laundering Act in February represents some of the milestones recorded by Nigeria in her chase to combat cyber-threat; however, more needed to be done to delist the country from being counted among the world’s 59 most vulnerable cyber prone countries.

Ogunsakin also identified problems and challenges in handling bank frauds to include lack of well equipped forensic laboratories, lack of data base of criminals, inadequate legislation, cost of investigation, inadequate working tools, inadequate collaboration with private sector and inadequate international collaborative framework.

Speaking during International Data Corporation (IDC) road-show 2013 held in Lagos recently, Andy Norton, Threat Intelligence Architect, FireEye, noted that today’s cybercriminals, aided by their targets’ porous defenses and unwitting end users are able to deliver advanced malware that exploits systems and enables a range of malicious activities.

According to him, much of this advanced malware is being delivered via emails with malicious file attachments, adding that presently the criminals are distributing files, specifically those that are effectively bypassing traditional security defenses such as firewalls, next-generation firewalls, intrusion prevention systems (IPS), anti-virus (AV), and secure gateways.

He quoted Gartner’s earlier warning that “Organizations face an evolving threat scenario that they are ill-prepared to deal with….threats that have bypassed their traditional security protection techniques and reside undetected on their systems.”

Study carried by the Organisation also showed that 40% of all IT executives expect a major cybersecurity incident, while there are 9,000+ malicious websites identified per day.

Also every second 14 adults become victims of cyber crime and 95 new vulnerabilities are discovered per week.

“99% of breaches led to compromise within “days” or less with 85% leading to data exfiltration in the same time and 85% of breaches took “weeks” or more to discover. And some of the attacked are spurred by Download Stages,” he said.

Analysts have suggested that some IPS/IDS/NGFW vendors are no better at handling evasions today than they were when they released their original products, just as widening gap between hacker capabilities and security defenses put pressure on security organizations who struggle to keep up with the changing nature, complexity, and scale of attacks.

On her part, Lise Hagen, research manager, Software & IT Services, Africa, suggested that risk should become the main agenda to justify IT Security investments.

The essential guides or wining strategy should involve implementation of user awareness & education, spend smarter, initiate a metric-based approach, create a risk portfolio and plan, update, enforce, security policies.

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E-Financial

NGX lists 3.156bn UBA shares, boosting capital to N513bn

Published

21 minutes ago

January 15, 2026

Ugo Onwuaso

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Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) admitted 3.156 billion additional ordinary shares of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc to its Daily Official List on January 12, following the bank’s successful rights issue at N50 per 50k share, deepening market liquidity and elevating capital base beyond CBN’s N500 billion international authorisation threshold.

NGX lists 3.156bn UBA shares, boosting capital to N513bn

UBA Group Managing Director/CEO Oliver Alawuba

UBA Group Managing Director/CEO Oliver Alawuba hailed the listing as evidence of strong investor trust in the bank’s strategy, noting the N158 billion raise – building on N239 billion from a 2024 public offer – now totals N513 billion to fuel Pan-African expansion across 20 countries plus the UK, US, France and UAE.

The listing, confirmed by NGX’s Head of Issuer Regulation Godstime Iwenkehai, allocates one new share for every 13 held, supporting UBA’s service to 45 million customers and 25,000 employees through retail, commercial and tech-driven banking.

Alawuba pledged the fresh capital would enhance stakeholder value and global reach.

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E-Financial

Ecobank Joins Trillion-naira Club for the First Time in 20 Years

Published

1 day ago

January 14, 2026

Chike Onwuegbuchi

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Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) has joined the trillion-naira exclusive club of firms, marking its first entry in its two decades of being listed on the Nigerian Exchange.

The Pan-African lender saw its valuation surge more than the N1 trillion mark on Monday, January 5, 2026. As of the close of trade on Monday, January 12, the stock had gained 7.4 percent, with its share price hitting N45. ETI has accrued 23 percent over the past four-week period alone, making it the 40th best on NGX.

“Ecobank Transnational Inc. is currently the 23rd most valuable stock on the NGX with a market capitalisation of N 1.07 trillion, which makes up about 1.02 percent of the Nigerian Stock Exchange equity market,” according to African Stock Exchange data, a market analytics platform.

This historic feat follows the early repayment of $245 million of Ecobank’s $300 million Eurobond issuance to bondholders who validly tendered their notes ahead of the February 2026 maturity date.

This must have led to an improved confidence in the bank’s operation, which gained 61 percent a year ago despite the sell-off that rattled the bank’s stock in 2025.

More Nigerian lenders are seeing their market capitalisation cross the N1 trillion mark, suggesting renewed investor confidence in the sector that’s undergoing a recapitalisation exercise.

GTCO remains the most capitalised, with its valuation reaching N3.62 trillion as of January 12, followed by Zenith Bank, First Bank of Nigeria, United Bank for Africa, Access Bank, and Stanbic IBTC with N2.75 trillion, N2.16 trillion, N1.94 trillion, N1.23 trillion, and N1.7 trillion, respectively. By crossing N1 trillion, Ecobank now sits among the country’s biggest lenders within the trillion-naira club.

Fidelity Bank, on April 4, 2025, saw its market value shoot above N1 trillion, making it the first tier-2 bank to cross the threshold. However, it slipped below the mark on May 20 following a Supreme Court ruling that pressured its share price. The bank’s valuation currently stands at N957 billion.

The membership of the exclusive club of listed companies with at least N1 trillion valuation has increased to 24, compared to 17 a year earlier, according to data from the Nigerian Exchange Limited.

The top five members include BUA Foods with a market cap of N14.38 trillion, MTN Nigerian Communications with N12.70 trillion, Dangote Cement with N10.71 trillion, Airtel Africa with N8.53 trillion, and BUA Cement with N6.2 trillion.

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E-Financial

Wema Bank Upgrades ALAT Banking App

Published

2 days ago

January 13, 2026

Chike Onwuegbuchi

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Wema Bank Plc has launched the upgraded version of its flagship digital banking platform, ALAT by Wema. Designed as the next phase in digital banking, the upgraded version of ALAT delivers a smarter, faster, and more intuitive experience, reinforcing Wema Bank’s leadership in technology-driven financial services.

Tagged ALAT: The Evolution, the upgraded version represents a significant advancement in how customers interact with their bank.

It enables seamless banking through intelligent features such as voice banking (called SAW), which allows customers to carry out banking activities using natural voice commands, reducing friction and improving accessibility.

It also introduces Tap and Pay for quick, secure, and convenient contactless transactions, alongside uptime prediction that enhances transparency, reliability, and confidence around service availability.

Together, these innovations are designed to simplify everyday banking while anticipating customer needs in real time, reinforcing Wema Bank’s commitment to trust, efficiency, and customer-centric digital experiences.

While announcing the upgraded version of the ALAT Banking app, Moruf Oseni, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Wema Bank, said, “ALAT: The Evolution is more than an upgrade. It is a clear demonstration of our commitment to redefining digital banking in Africa.

“By understanding the future of banking and listening closely to our customers, we have upgraded ALAT by Wema to a digital banking platform that is smart, intelligent and dependable. This evolution reinforces our promise to deliver innovation that genuinely enhances how people live, work, and transact everyday.”

He added that migrating to the upgraded app is seamless. “Existing customers can simply visit the Google Play Store or Apple App Store to update their existing ALAT app and sign-in with their existing login details (All their account information and transaction history remain intact on their profile and they will also gain access to new features that make banking faster, more intuitive, and more reliable).

For new customers, all they have to do is visit the Google Play Store or Apple App Store to download ALAT by Wema app and click the Get Started icon to onboard seamlessly.

Speaking on the technology in the upgraded ALAT by Wema, Olusegun Adeniyi, Chief Digital Officer at Wema Bank, explained, “With ALAT: The Evolution, we set out to enhance not just functionality but the overall banking experience.

“By integrating voice banking, contactless payments, and predictive reliability, we are delivering a platform that is built on powerful technology and responds intelligently to customer needs. This upgrade reflects our long-term digital vision to create a digital bank that is adaptive, intuitive, and consistently available.”

Built on speed, intelligence, and user-centric design, ALAT: The Evolution redefines everyday banking through intuitive features such as voice-enabled transactions, contactless payments, and predictive service reliability. Designed to anticipate customer needs in real time, the platform delivers a smarter, more seamless, and dependable digital banking experience that reflects Wema Bank’s vision for the future of finance.

With the upgraded version of ALAT, Wema Bank continues to strengthen its position as a digital-first institution, delivering innovative solutions that empower individuals and businesses to bank with confidence in an increasingly digital economy.

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