Digital payment platform, Palmpay said it is committed to helping the industry stem the rising tide of cyrbercrime and fraud in the system.
The fintech platform, which said all hands must be on deck to fight the menace, said this is necessary to ensure consistent growth of the ecosystem.
Managing Director, PalmPay, Chika Nwosu, said the reason the fintech platform has witnessed astonishing growth in four years was because “we prioritise the safety and security of our users.” He said they’ve been able to achieve this by “marrying security and safety with the customer experience to create a balance.
Continuing, he said: “PalmPay employs a closed-loop risk management system that involves continuous monitoring, analysis, and response to fraud threats and allows it to detect and prevent security risks in real-time and reduce the potential impact of fraud.
“To reduce incidents of fraud, protect their users from fraudsters, and provide a safe banking environment, PalmPay binds their users’ phones to the app and has an auto-logout and biometrics feature to confirm users’ identity.
While fintech companies play a role in protecting users from cyber fraud, the rising fraud incidents in Nigeria can sometimes be due to poor digital and financial literacy, but most especially the failure of many victims to report an attack.
Referencing a 2023 report, Head of IT and Payments, PalmPay, Temitayo Oduwole, observed that customers do not take prompt action in incidents of fraud and that “Only 33 per cent report the same day or take the necessary right action on the same day.”
“Effective investigation into incidents of fraud begins when the user reports to their bank that fraud has occurred. However, fraud, if not reported within the hour the crime occurred, allows criminals to move the stolen funds to ‘safe’ places.
“Precaution remains the best remedy to protect oneself from cyber fraud”, anti-fraud expert, Tosin Adenekan, warned fintech users against trusting strangers with their personal information when performing digital transactions.
According to Adenekan, “Users of fintech platforms owe it to themselves to follow standard safety precautions to avoid being defrauded by cyber criminals.
“Do not allow strangers such as POS operators to handle personal ATM cards. This is because cybercriminals often posing as helpful POS operators can exploit this to observe PIN entries and distract card owners, ultimately swapping ATM cards.”
