Banks indicted in fraud cases
There are indications that despite efforts at mitigating fraud in the financial sector, banks are yet to contribute their quota in ensuring a safe financial environment. This came to light at a workshop organised by the Computer Warehouse Group (CWG) on fighting fraud with technology. The forum which looked at necessary steps being taken by technology solutions providers at curbing incidences of electronic fraud noted that lack of collaboration by banks and involvement of some bank staff in financial fraud pose a huge problem in the fight. Ademola Adewale, Head, Internal Control & Reconciliation Risk Management Control, First Bank of Nigeria, while speaking on managing fraud in banks, disclosed that banks do not report incidences of fraud and do not collaborate with each other to check the trend. He noted that some of the challenges being faced by banks include inadequate skills and experience by bank staff, inadequate segregation of duties, concealment of fraud losses by other banks and the regulatory body, CBN and low motivation from police in cases of armed robbery. According to Adewale, the Complexity of banking services has given rise to the need for complex and broader solutions.

He said that banks need state-ofthe- art anti fraud solutions to enable them combat the ever evolving fraud means. Adewale outlined the common financial fraud to include fraudulent transfer and withdrawal which accounts for about 31 percent of incurred fraud, presentation of forged cheque (30 percent) and loss of money to armed robbers (16 percent) among others. "E-banking fraud is on the increase so there is a need for better solutions. "While introducing Actimize, an enterprise solution for mitigating transactional risk, David Govrin, marketing executive, Actimize, noted that key banking issues that need attention include remote banking, e-payment, employee, deposit, ATM and debit card frauds. He disclosed that Actimize software, a real-time financial solution handles these frauds by detecting abnormal behavioral financial patterns of a customer or irregular management policy rule, sending out an alert that would lead to automated investigation and resolution. Govrin noted that there is a need to fight fraud with advanced technological tool with a realtime solution. According to him, the need to cope with huge data and detect sophisticated, cross-channel attack has necessitated the de-emphasis on manual fraud war. James Agada, managing director, ExpertEdge, software subsidiary of CWG, lamented the reluctance of bank managements in following up with processed automated anti fraud report. "It is one thing to install this software and detect fraud and its source, but it is another thing for these banks to take action on the report.

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