The United Bank for Africa (UBA) says it has strengthened the security of transactions on its mobile application to stop fraudulent debits, unauthorised transfers and withdrawals.

UBA announced this in a memo forwarded to its customers via email on Tuesday.

“We are pleased to inform you that we have further strengthened the security of transactions on the Mobile App.

“Updated authentication options now apply based on the value of transfers,” the memo reads in part.

Securing bank accounts

UBA said in the memo that it had introduced authentication options for transactions of varying amounts to detect and prevent fraud.

According to the bank, transactions of N200,000 or more will now require customers to provide their Personal Identification Number (PIN) and a token number.

For transactions above N200,000 and N250,000, customers will be required to provide their PIN and a One-Time Password (OTP).

They can make use of their PIN and Biometric or PIN and Token numbers to authenticate such transactions.

Customers will be required to provide a PIN and OTP, or a PIN and Token number, when carrying out transactions between N250,000 and N500,000.

For transactions between N500,000 and N10 million, customers must enter their PIN and Token to authenticate the transaction.

For transactions above N10 million, customers must use their PIN, Token, and Biometric to complete the transaction.

“The app will guide you, no need to memorise these thresholds,” the bank assured customers in the memo.

Secure pass

UBA said customers who need to authenticate transactions with Secure Pass can do so by downloading the enabling mobile app and following the instructions.

Secure Pass, formerly known as U-Token, is a mobile application that generates OTPs for authorising high-value internet and mobile banking transactions for UBA customers.

Bank fraud in Nigeria

The latest move by UBA is part of the bank’s efforts to combat fraudulent withdrawals and unauthorised transfers from customers’ accounts.

Twenty-First February this year was a sorrowful day for Muyiwa Popoola, a former deputy vice-chancellor of Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo, Oyo State.

Mr Popoola, a professor, was shocked to receive debit alerts on his mobile phone indicating fraudulent withdrawals of N9.98 million from his Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) account.

According to him, N4,990,000 was first transferred to an account belonging to Isah Ahmed Ahmed on Paga at 10:19 a.m., before a second transfer of N4,990,000 was allegedly made at 10:21 a.m. to Nasir Nasir Sanusi, also linked to an account on the same platform.

He said he neither authorised the transactions nor compromised his PIN, token or any other security information, but the GTB claimed that the two transactions were authenticated using the professor’s login credentials, including his User ID, password and PIN.

Mr Popoola was shocked. He insisted he did not authorise such transactions, and has since petitioned the Central Bank of Nigeria to intervene in the matter.

But Mr Popoola is just one of the millions of Nigerians who have suffered increased fraudulent withdrawals, unauthorised debits and transactions from their bank accounts.

Like the university lecturer, many victims of bank fraud in Nigeria suffer such fate even without compromising their PIN, token, or any other security information associated with their accounts.

According to a report by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), financial institutions in Nigeria lost N52.2 billion to fraud in 2024.

This represents a significant increase of N34.5 billion compared to the N17.6 billion recorded in 2023.

The NIBSS is the central system responsible for settling inter-bank transactions in Nigeria.

It connects Deposit Money Banks (DMB), Mobile Money Operators (MMOs), Switches and Payment Service Providers (PSPs)

SBM Intelligence recently said there has been an increase in fraud cases within Nigeria’s banking sector over the past five years.

For instance, the Africa-focused research firm said financial losses from fraudulent activities surged by N14.71 billion from 2019 to 2023.

“Fraud is common in the financial sector globally. In Nigeria, it is endemic. Although the number of incidents has reduced from a high in 2021, the amount of money lost to fraud has increased significantly,” it said.

“This may indicate that the perpetrators have become better at their act and figured out ways to move larger sums of money undetected,” SBM said.