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BANKING & FINANCE
Neff moves to combat
internet fraud through
deep web
BY BABAJIDE
KOMOLAFE
THE Nigeria Electronic
Fraud Forum (NeFF)
has commenced moves to
combat the threat of internet
fraud through the ‘deep
Web’.
This started with
sensitization of stakeholders
in the electronic payment
industry during the 2nd
Quarterly meeting of the
Forum held on Friday.
Commenting on the
rationale for theme of the
meeting, which was, “The
Deep Web and its impact on
the Global Financial
Industry”, NeFF Chairman
and Director of Banking and
Payment
System
Department, Central Bank of
Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Dipo
Fatokun said, “The reality we
face today is that the
conventional use of the World
Wide Web is like dragging a
net across the surface of the
ocean, capturing less than 1%
of Web Content. It is true that
an entire life exists beyond
the surface of the web as we
know it , the Deep Web. Who
controls this life, what are the
impacts on our electronic
payment transactions and
what impact does it hold for
the Global Financial
Industry?
"When we speak of
electronic payment, it runs on
the web. We have the deep
web and we have the surface
web
"While the surface web
accounts for five percent of
what happens on the web, 95
percent of what happens in
the web is in the deep web
and of course, there are so
many illegal things that come
up in the deep web which
people are not aware of
“And as you know, we have
always emphasized this at
BRIEFS
Heritage Bank CEO highlights
success factor for CBN youth fund
MANAGING
Director/Chief
Executive Officer of Heritage
Bank Plc, Mr. IfieSekibo has identified
“character” as the success factor for the
1,500 youths participating in the Central
Bank of Nigeria (CBN) N3billion Youth
Innovative Entrepreneurship
Development Programme (YIEDP).
Speaking at the official flag off of the
training programme of the first batch of
beneficiaries of the youth empowerment
programme initiated by the CBN with
Heritage Bank Plc and the National Youth
Service Corps (NYSC) as partners, Sekibo
advised the youths to adopt a strong
positive character to enable them take
advantage of the platform being
presented to them.
The event, which took place at the NYSC
this forum that lack of
knowledge or ignorance is
the primary reason why the
spate of electronic fraud has
not abated as well as we
would have love it to abate.
“So that is the reason why
we consider it necessary at
this quarterly meeting as a
form of education,
sensitisation and
enlightenment for members
of the forum and of course the
financial services industry to
be aware that what happens
in the deep web can also
affect us if we are not careful
about it”.
Also speaking at the forum,
CBN Director, Consumer
Protection Department,
Hajiya Umma Dutse stressed
the need to sensitize
consumers persistently on
the threat of electronic fraud.
She said, “We all understand
the effects of fraud. However,
from my position, where I try
with my team to ensure the
consumer is protected in the
financial services sector, the
ELECTRONIC payment
experts have called for
collaboration among
stakeholders to deepen
adoption of mobile Point of Sale
(mPoS) in Nigeria.
An mPOS is a smartphone,
tablet or dedicated wireless
device that performs the
functions of a cash register or
electronic point of sale terminal.
Rising from the Ennovators
Breakfast series [EBS), with
the theme "Making mPoS a
veritable last mile banking in
Nigeria", the experts said
“collaborative approach should
be explored to deepen the
adoption of mPOS in the
country.”
They also called for regular
meeting between the mPOS
certified service providers, the
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)
Orientation Village, Kubwa, Abuja marks
the beginning of an experiment in
reducing graduate unemployment in the
country by extending single-digit interest
loans to enable qualified NYSC members
and young graduates fulfill their dreams
of becoming entrepreneurs.
Mr. Sekibo tasked the young
beneficiaries, who through initial tests
were selected from nearly 10,000
applicants, to remain focused and
tenacious so as to be able to succeed. Said
he: “Today, you represent the first step into
an experiment that if we succeed, we
would be on a part of turning the
economic tide of our great nation. But you
have to bring your character to the table.
If you do not bring your character to the
table, this experiment will not succeed.”
and the Nigeria Interbank
Settlement System (NIBSS)
Experts who spoke at the
meeting include: Emmanuel
Agha, Managing Director/
Chief Executive, Innovectives;
Uwagbae Uzebu, Director,
Acceptance Development,
Non Traditional Channels, West
Africa, MasterCard; And
Oluwaseun Omotosho,
Manager, Mobile Financial
Services, Etisalat Nigeria.
Any smartphone or tablet can
be transformed into an mPOS
with a downloadable mobile
app. Typically, when the
business owner registers the
app, the vendor sends the
business owner a card reader
that plugs into the mobile
device’s audio jack. There are
14 mPoS licensed providers in
Nigeria which have so far
SKYE Bank Plc has won the awards of
the ‘best consumer finance product
and best remittance product in West Africa
in this years’s Asian Banker ‘Retail services
West African award’ which took place in
Lagos at the weekend.
According to the Asian Banker,
organiser of the awards, Skye Bank’s
personal finance loans and its money
transfer service within West Africa
known as Flit Cash were adjudged as the
best in their respective categories in the
West African sub region.
Specifically, the award organisers said
the bank’s personal finance loans have
simplified lending to salary earners who
can walk in to any branch of the bank and
obtain a loan against their salaries within
a few hours. It also said the Skye Flitcash
Vanguard, MONDAY, JULY 04, 2016 — 19
SIGNING: From left, Managing Director, Lekki Worldwide Investment Limited, Dr. Tunde Sodade;
Lagos State Commissioner for Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives, Prince Rotimi Ogunleye;
and Chairman of Rendevouz Nigeria Development Company Investment Limited, Mr. Rotimi
Oyekanmi at the signing of agreement for the expansion of 1,000 hectares of Urban Development
at the Lekki Free Trade Zone.
reality of fraud is more real
than imagined. Daily, we are
inundated with several
claims and counter-claims
that show how exposed and
unprotected we can be when
we fail to observe the
etiquettes that govern the use
of e-payment products.
“In the world we live in
today, it has therefore
become imperative that
E-payment experts seek collaboration to deepen adoption of mobile PoS
deployed with about 2,000
terminals.
This according to experts is
abysmally low when compared
to global deployment of mPOS,
which rose from 4.5 million in
2011 to 9.5 million by 2012,
representing a compound
annual growth rate [CAGR] of
111 percent. With global
deployment of mPOS expected
to rise to 38 million by 2017.
The experts noted that,
“Mobile Point-of-Sale (mPOS)
terminals are revolutionising
the payment acceptance
infrastructure globally. Nigeria
must not be left out. Not only
are these terminals
encouraging a new audience to
embrace card payments [sole
traders and small businesses]
but larger merchants also
recognise the value in taking
consumers are sensitized
consistently in order to
ensure that they stay not only
ahead but also above old,
new and emerging threats in
our payments system.”
the payment ‘desk’ to the
customer.”
Among other things, they
called on mPOS service
providers to focus more on small
businesses because of the value
mPOS can bring to their
businesses. The adoption of
mPOS terminals over standard
POS terminals will be 46 percent
by 2017, most of which will be
driven by the retail and
restaurant industries.
They stressed that, “mPOS
can help impact a business
beyond the transaction through
reporting, marketing and backend
operations. While the
transaction is one of the most
important components of smallbusiness
operations, back-end
reporting that mPOS software
provides is arguably just as
critical to success.
Skye Bank wins best consumer
finance, remittance product awards
service has boosted commerce in the West
African sub region and senders/recipients
do not have a need for a bank account to
enjoy the service. The West African ‘Retail
financial services awards’ programme
covers over 160 retail financial institutions
from 30 countries across Asia Pacific, Middle
East and Africa. It is to recognise
competition and innovation in one of the
fastest growing fierce markets with fierce
competition.
Commenting on the two awards, the
Group Managing Director/Chief Executive
Officer of the bank, Mr. Timothy Oguntayo,
described them as milestones and worthy
affirmation of the bank’s modest
investment in Retail and Commercial
banking since the launch of its Retail
Transformation and Growth (RTAG)
initiative in 2015.
C
M
Y
K