CBN Exposes 13,117 Fraud-Linked BVNs as Access, Zenith, UBA, Other Banks Tighten Crackdown
- Bank Verification Numbers tied to fraud surged to 13,117 in 2025, reflecting improved monitoring efforts
- Nigeria's consumer credit market saw its first annual decline since 2019 amid high borrowing costs
- BVN registrations grew to 67.82 million, highlighting improved financial inclusion in Nigeria's banking system
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Pascal Oparada is a journalist with Legit.ng, covering technology, energy, stocks, investment, and the economy for over a decade.
Nigeria's banking sector has intensified its fight against financial fraud, with the number of Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs) linked to fraudulent activities surging to 13,117 in 2025.
The latest figures, released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in its 2025 Annual Report and Statement of Accounts, show that commercial banks, including Access Bank, Zenith Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA) and other financial institutions, significantly expanded fraud monitoring during the year.
Source: Twitter
The report also revealed that Nigeria's consumer credit market recorded its first annual contraction in six years as high borrowing costs discouraged households from taking loans.
Fraud watchlist grows by 38%
According to the apex bank, the number of BVNs placed on the industry's fraud watchlist rose from 9,476 in 2024 to 13,117 in 2025, representing a 38.4 per cent increase.
The CBN explained that financial institutions added 3,641 new BVNs to the watchlist as part of stronger compliance measures, improved risk management and enhanced fraud detection systems across the banking industry.
The report stated:
"Fraud-related BVNs on the watchlist rose to 13,117 compared with 9,476 in the preceding period. This highlighted improvement in fraud monitoring and resolution."
Rather than indicating a surge in fraud alone, the increase reflects more aggressive efforts by banks to identify suspicious activities, strengthen internal controls and protect customers from financial crimes.
Consumer credit records first decline since 2019
While banks tightened fraud surveillance, lending to consumers weakened sharply.
The CBN disclosed that outstanding consumer credit fell by 19.89 per cent to N3.78 trillion in 2025 from N4.72 trillion in 2024, marking the first yearly decline since December 2019.
According to the regulator, the drop was largely driven by Nigeria's high-interest-rate environment, which made borrowing more expensive for households.
Personal loans suffered the biggest decline, falling to N1.85 trillion, while retail loans surged 63.77 per cent to N1.94 trillion, making retail lending the largest segment of consumer credit for the first time in many years.
As a result, retail loans accounted for 51.16 per cent of total consumer credit, overtaking personal loans, which represented 48.84 per cent, according to a report by The Guardian.
Consumer credit also formed a smaller portion of lending to the private sector, accounting for 6.6 per cent of total private sector credit in 2025, down from 7.98 per cent a year earlier.
Banks continue to favour short-term lending
The report further showed that banks maintained a strong preference for short-term lending.
Short-term loans accounted for 51.6 per cent of banks' credit portfolios despite a slight decline from the previous year. Medium-term lending edged lower to 13.46 per cent, while long-term loans increased to 34.94 per cent.
The CBN attributed the trend to banks' funding structure, noting that most customer deposits remain short-term, making shorter-tenor lending a safer option.
Similarly, deposit liabilities with maturities of one year or less accounted for 91 per cent of banks' total deposits in 2025.
BVN database expands as financial inclusion improves
Beyond fraud monitoring, the BVN ecosystem continued to expand rapidly.
The number of registered BVNs increased to 67.82 million, up from 64.40 million in 2024, adding 3.42 million new enrolments.
The total number of bank accounts linked to BVNs climbed sharply to 368.92 million from 297.29 million, while active bank accounts rose to 339.26 million from 311.6 million.
Source: UGC
The CBN also disclosed that the number of BVNs belonging to deceased persons on the watchlist increased from 21,118 to 28,754, reflecting ongoing efforts to clean up customer records and reduce identity-related fraud.
According to the apex bank, the continued growth in BVN registrations, linked accounts and active bank accounts underscores improving financial inclusion, stronger regulatory compliance and enhanced integrity of Nigeria's banking system, even as financial institutions intensify efforts to combat fraud nationwide.
CBN releases lending rates
Legit.ng earlier reported that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has published updated lending rates of commercial and merchant banks, giving borrowers a clearer picture of what credit currently costs in Nigeria's banking sector.
The data published on July 3 is part of its broader transparency and consumer protection framework, enabling households, small businesses, and corporate borrowers to compare the cost of credit before approaching any lender.
Two categories of rates are involved: prime lending rates, which are reserved for customers with strong credit standings, and maximum lending rates, which apply to borrowers carrying higher perceived risk.
Source: Legit.ng
