Fraud costs banks and SDIs GH¢72m, despite decline in attempted cases

By Deborah Asantewaah SARFO

Despite a 59 percent decline of attempted fraud cases within the banks and Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions (SDI) sector in 2023, the total loss value surged to approximately GH¢72 million – indicating a 29 percent increase over the GH¢56million recorded in 2022.

Across the two sectors, total value of fraud cases reported in 2023 amounted to        GH¢167million; however, GH¢95million was recovered – resulting in a GH¢72million loss value for 2023.

This is according to data by the Ghana Association of Banks (GAB) sourced from the Bank of Ghana (BoG’s) Fraud Report (2019 – 2023) – which noted that banks registered 969 cases (6.12 percent) and SDIs reported 241 cases (1.52 percent).

The 2023 Fraud Report released by the BoG offers a comprehensive analysis of fraud trends across Banks, Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions (SDIs) and Payment Service Providers (PSPs).

The data assert that incidents responsible for the rise in fraud losses were largely due to outlier fraud cases involving foreign currencies, which when converted to cedis significantly inflated the 2023 loss figures.

Meanwhile, the total fraud-related loss for banks only in 2023, as indicated in the fraud report, amounted to approximately GH¢63million – a 21 percent increase from the      GH¢52million reported in 2022. Reported fraud  cases in banks were 969, representing a 17 percent decrease from the 1,163 cases recorded in 2022.

Analysing the sharp rise in total loss value amid fewer attempted fraud cases, the GAB said the issue “points to the increasing sophistication of fraud types, particularly foreign currency fraud” – adding that the decrease in reported cases also “underscores a shifting risk dynamic in the country’s financial ecosystem”.

For banks, the data show that ATM/POS/Card fraud recorded the highest number of incidents with 218 cases reported; signifying a sharp rise from just 9 cases in the previous year. It further states that the surge is partly attributed to the influence of growing digital payment channels use.

Meanwhile, across the three sectors, over 15,865 cases were recorded, a 4.6 percent uptick from the 15,164 cases in 2022 causing approximately GH¢88 million of fraud loss to the ecosystem. Given the statistics, the GAB says this highlights the urgent need for enhanced security measures and vigilance across the sector.

Additionally, the data point out that “PSPs dominated the landscape, accounting for 14,655 cases or 92.37 percent of total fraud reports. By contrast, banks registered 969 cases (6.12 percent) and SDIs reported 241 cases (1.52 percent)”.

According to the association, fraudulent activities in the banking sector show the evolving nature of fraud and its financial impact. Also, it suggests a potential erosion of public trust in the banking sector.

GAB in its data highlighted BoG’s directives to the sectors as a response to findings and trends in the fraud report – banks and SDIs should update their technologies and tools with enhanced built-in security features to curb fraud; intensify fraud sensitisation to their customers; and strengthen the security protocols for account access and transactions among others.

The PSPs have been directed to implement robust financial fraud programmes and processes to curb SIM swap-related fraud and continue to share fraud-related information with the Bank of Ghana and other relevant institutions on time.

In addition to the BoG’s directive to address fraud, the association recommended that: “Banks should implement a zero-trust model, where no entity (internal or external) is automatically trusted; invest in artificial intelligence, machine learning tools; and strengthen customer awareness campaigns on cyber threats, phishing and fraudulent schemes”.

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