Wema Bank Plc and the Association of Chief Audit Executives of Banks in Nigeria (ACAEBIN) have urged financial institutions, regulators, technology partners and law-enforcement agencies to strengthen cybersecurity, data governance and internal controls as emerging technologies reshape the banking industry.

They spoke yesterday at the 65th Quarterly General Meeting of ACAEBIN in Lagos, themed: “Auditing the Future: Governing AI, Cyber Risks and Digital Trust in an Era of Intelligent Banking.”

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Wema Bank, Moruf Oseni, represented by the Executive Director, Finance and Digital, Tunde Mabawonku, said the banking industry was undergoing profound transformation driven by artificial intelligence, advanced analytics, digital platforms, automation and other emerging technologies.

He said the transformation was creating new dimensions of risk, including AI-enabled fraud, deepfakes, identity manipulation, cyberattacks, API vulnerabilities, data breaches and business email compromise.

According to him, the risks were no longer distant possibilities but required the attention of boards, management, regulators and assurance functions.

“As our customers increasingly interact with financial institutions through digital channels, the preservation of digital trust must become an enterprise-wide priority,” he said.

Oseni added that internal audit functions must evolve from predominantly retrospective assurance to a more forward-looking, technology-enabled and insight-driven role capable of helping boards and management anticipate risks and challenge assumptions.

Chairperson of ACAEBIN, Aina Amah, represented by the First Vice President, Mogbitse Atsagbede, said innovation must be accompanied by robust governance, effective controls, cyber resilience and accountability.

She said the association had expanded its engagement beyond the banking and professional community through dialogue with the Nigerian Police Force National Cybercrime Centre on cybercrime, fraud trends, intelligence sharing and stronger collaboration among law enforcement agencies, financial institutions and internal auditors.

In her presentation, Senior Manager, Information Technology and Control Assurance, Deloitte Nigeria, Chisom Odobeatu, said the increasing technology dependence of the banking industry required assurance providers and audit executives to continuously upgrade their skills.

She urged auditors to move beyond traditional approaches and adapt to the rapidly changing technology-driven banking environment.