CBN Plans To Use AI To Tackle Fraud in Digital Payments in Nigeria
- The CBN will deploy AI under PSV 2028 to boost fraud detection and secure Nigeria’s digital payments system
- The plan targets cyber threats like fraud, phishing, and unauthorised transactions
- Nigeria’s electronic payment transactions have already surpassed N1.2 quadrillion in 2025
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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced plans to deploy Artificial Intelligence (AI) to strengthen fraud prevention and improve the efficiency of Nigeria’s digital payments ecosystem.
This was contained in the newly launched Nigeria Payments System Vision (PSV) 2028.
Source: Getty Images
Payments System Vision
The initiative, outlined in the apex bank’s newly released PSV 2028 policy document, positions AI as a core technology in Nigeria’s push to build a more secure, inclusive and globally competitive payments infrastructure.
According to the CBN, the adoption of AI aligns with its guiding principle of “Innovation with Purpose,” which focuses on leveraging emerging technologies to enhance convenience, efficiency and competitiveness across the financial system.
While Nigeria’s digital payments sector has recorded significant growth in recent years, the central bank noted that fraud and cyber threats continue to undermine consumer confidence and slow the expansion of financial inclusion.
The PSV 2028 document highlighted persistent risks, including cyber-attacks, identity theft, phishing schemes and unauthorised transactions as major vulnerabilities in the payments ecosystem.
These challenges, it said, have weakened trust in digital financial services and limited broader access to formal financial systems.
To address these issues, the CBN said the PSV 2028 framework will prioritise cybersecurity, fraud management and the deployment of advanced technologies capable of detecting and preventing financial crimes in real time, Leadership reports.
Under its innovation and emerging technologies pillar, the bank disclosed plans to explore AI, blockchain and programmable payment systems as part of wider efforts to modernise Nigeria’s payments infrastructure.
Source: Getty Images
CBN to use AI for financial services monitoring
The apex bank also outlined plans to establish stronger industry-wide fraud monitoring structures, including a national Security Operations Centre and a central fraud intelligence-sharing platform to improve coordination in detecting and responding to threats across the financial sector.
It added that regulators and financial institutions will collaborate on shared infrastructure for fraud detection, risk intelligence and compliance monitoring, supported by industry-wide cyber performance assessment frameworks.
The CBN noted that AI is already transforming global payment systems through applications such as chatbots, self-service platforms, robotic process automation and intelligent transaction monitoring tools that improve customer experience and operational efficiency.
Beyond fraud prevention, AI-driven systems are expected to enhance compliance processes, strengthen transaction monitoring and improve service delivery across Nigeria’s digital financial platforms.
The bank further stated that Nigeria aims to position itself as a leader in technology-driven financial regulation by 2028, with plans to advance regulatory technology (RegTech), supervisory technology (SupTech) and AI-powered compliance systems. It also aims to export locally developed digital payment frameworks to international markets.
Nigeria’s electronic payment transactions have already surpassed N1.2 quadrillion in 2025.
POS operators announce plan to suspend services
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that the Association of Point of Sale Service Providers (POS) has threatened to shut down its activities nationwide should the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) fail to immediately intervene in the alleged exclusivity practice by two companies.
The association stated that it has submitted an official complaint to the regulators concerning the "unlawful, constant decisions" from the two companies, which the group claims violate regulatory laws.
Source: Legit.ng
