The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Nigerian House of Representatives have cautioned that Nigeria's rapidly expanding fintech and Point-of-Sale (POS) networks are increasingly vulnerable to fraud due to inadequate verification methods and regulations.
At a hearing held by the House Ad-hoc Committee on Cryptocurrency and POS Operations, EFCC cybercrime supervisor Dein Whyte stated that poor Know-Your-Customer compliance, unverified POS agents, and compromised system architecture enabled criminals to channel illicit funds through POS platforms.
He advocated for more robust surveillance of banking and fintech infrastructure to support investigations.
Committee chairman Olufemi Bamisile stated that MPs had received complaints of cloned terminals, anonymous transactions, unauthorised cryptocurrency dealings, and the exploitation of stolen identities to register money laundering accounts.
He further cautioned that offshore storage of customer data by some fintechs undermines regulators’ ability to track suspicious transactions and poses national-security concerns.
Paul Okafor, president of the Association of digital Payment and POS operators of Nigeria, said fraud across digital channels rose from N17.67bn ($12.1 million) in 2023 to N52.26bn ($35.9 million) in 2024, with POS platforms accounting for a significant share.
He noted that while POS operators grew from 50,000 in 2017 to 2.3 million in 2025, regulatory capacity expanded by less than 10 per cent, creating a severe oversight gap.
Okafor warned that POS fraud had reached “a national security emergency,” citing security reports that kidnapping ransom payments frequently pass through informal POS channels.
Bamisile said the committee will recommend legislation to strengthen oversight, improve consumer protection and close regulatory loopholes affecting the digital-payment ecosystem.
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