The Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian Communications Commission on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding to combat SIM-related fraud and strengthen consumer protection, as regulators respond to rising risks in Nigeria’s fast-growing digital payments ecosystem.
The agreement, signed on April 20, 2026, at the central bank’s headquarters in Abuja and detailed in a statement issued the same day, sets out a framework for coordination between financial institutions and telecom operators. The regulators said the pact will improve oversight of electronic transactions linked to mobile numbers, which have become a key vulnerability in fraud schemes.
Governor of the central bank, Olayemi Cardoso, described the deal as a shift from parallel regulation to joint enforcement, reflecting the convergence of finance and telecommunications in Nigeria’s digital economy. “This is a practical statement of national interest,” he said at the signing, adding that stronger institutional alignment is required to maintain trust in digital financial services.
Mobile numbers are now central to banking authentication, payments and identity verification in Nigeria, increasing exposure to risks such as SIM swaps, recycled numbers and account takeovers. The new agreement targets those gaps through shared intelligence, harmonised standards and coordinated enforcement.
A core feature of the pact is the rollout of a Telecom Identity Risk Management Portal, a shared data platform that will allow banks, fintechs and telecom operators to verify the status of phone numbers in real time. The system is designed to flag numbers that have been recently swapped, reassigned or blacklisted, enabling institutions to block or delay suspicious transactions.
Cardoso said the platform would operate under strict data protection rules, including encryption and user consent protocols, to safeguard consumer information while enabling faster fraud detection. The initiative is also expected to improve response times to fraud incidents by creating clearer escalation channels between regulated entities.
Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Aminu Maida, said the agreement reflects a broader regulatory shift toward collaboration. “This milestone underscores that coordination is not optional,” he said, noting that telecom data is increasingly critical to financial system integrity.
Industry participants say fragmented oversight has historically limited the ability to track fraud across sectors. By integrating telecom and financial data, regulators expect to close information gaps that fraudsters exploit, particularly in mobile-driven transactions.
Beyond fraud prevention, the framework also targets persistent consumer complaints, including failed airtime and data purchases where payments are processed without service delivery. Regulators said the agreement will standardise complaint resolution timelines and clarify accountability between banks and mobile network operators.
The MoU builds on earlier cooperation between both agencies. According to the CBN’s Director of Payment System Supervision, Rakiya Yusuf, the relationship has evolved from separate regulatory mandates into a more integrated approach over the past decade. She cited the 2018 agreement that enabled telecom operators to participate in mobile money services, as well as joint interventions such as the resolution of the USSD pricing dispute, which introduced a N6.98 per session fee.
Recent efforts have also focused on reducing transaction failures, including a proposed 30-second refund framework aimed at improving consumer confidence in digital payments.
Under the new arrangement, two joint committees will oversee implementation. One will focus on payment systems and consumer protection, while the other will manage the telecom risk platform and data-sharing protocols.
Separately, regulators have circulated a 20-page draft framework, developed with input from banks, telecom operators and payment service providers, outlining procedures for handling failed transactions and customer complaints. The document, published on the central bank’s website in April 2026, proposes a unified system for dispute resolution across both sectors.
The agreement comes as Nigeria pushes deeper into digital financial services, driven by mobile penetration and fintech adoption. While that expansion has broadened financial inclusion, it has also increased exposure to fraud and operational failures.
Authorities say the success of the new framework will depend on execution, particularly the willingness of financial institutions and telecom operators to integrate systems and share data in real time. If effective, the initiative could reduce fraud losses, improve service reliability and reinforce trust in Nigeria’s digital economy.