Ghana’s banking sector recorded a significant decline in fraud incidents in 2025, with the number of reported cases falling by 34 per cent, although high-value fraud schemes, particularly cash suppression and electronic money fraud, continued to expose financial institutions to major losses.
The Banks, Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions (SDIs) and Payment Service Providers (PSPs) 2025 Fraud Report revealed that banks recorded 472 fraud cases in 2025, compared with 716 cases in 2024.
The decline represents a reduction of 244 fraud cases, indicating improvements in fraud monitoring, internal controls and risk management systems within the banking sector.
Despite the drop in reported incidents, banks suffered significant financial exposure, with the total value at risk declining by 24 per cent from GH¢75 million in 2024 to GH¢57 million in 2025.
While ATM/POS fraud and fraudulent withdrawals recorded some of the highest numbers of cases, cash suppression emerged as the most financially damaging fraud category in 2025.
The report showed that cash suppression accounted for the highest value at risk among banks, reaching GH¢40.7 million, representing an almost 18-fold increase from the GH¢2.3 million recorded in 2024.
The sharp rise was largely driven by an exceptional case involving approximately GH¢36 million, which significantly influenced the overall figures.
The report identified cash suppression, e-money fraud, fraudulent withdrawals, ATM/POS fraud and burglary as the top five fraud categories based on financial exposure.
Electronic financial crimes continued to pose significant risks to banks, with e-money fraud increasing by 32 per cent.
The value at risk from e-money fraud rose from GH¢3.5 million in 2024 to GH¢4.6 million in 2025, reflecting the growing challenges associated with digital banking and electronic transactions.
Fraudulent withdrawals also recorded a major increase, rising by 118 per cent from GH¢1.82 million in 2024 to GH¢3.97 million in 2025.
However, ATM and Point-of-Sale (POS) fraud recorded some improvement, with the value at risk declining by 41 per cent, from GH¢4.14 million in 2024 to GH¢2.43 million in 2025.
Burglary completed the top five fraud categories, recording a value at risk of approximately GH¢1.74 million.
Unlike banks, specialised deposit-taking institutions (SDIs) recorded a sharp decline in fraud cases but experienced a significant increase in financial exposure.
The report indicated that SDIs recorded 182 fraud cases in 2025, compared with 344 cases in 2024, representing a 47 per cent decrease.
However, the value at risk increased significantly from GH¢4.5 million in 2024 to approximately GH¢8 million in 2025, representing a 77 per cent rise.
Cash suppression remained the most common fraud type among SDIs, although cases declined from 267 in 2024 to 109 in 2025, representing a 59 per cent reduction.
Rural and Community Banks (RCBs) recorded the highest number of cash suppression cases within the SDI sector, accounting for 51 per cent of reported incidents.
Forgery and manipulation of documents emerged as the biggest financial threat within the SDI sector.
The report revealed that document-related fraud recorded a value at risk of GH¢4.2 million in 2025, rising sharply from just GH¢10,000 in 2024.
A single institution accounted for approximately GH¢4.1 million of the reported value.
Cash suppression also recorded an increase in financial exposure among SDIs, rising from GH¢1.6 million in 2024 to GH¢1.7 million in 2025, while burglary-related losses increased from GH¢730,000 to GH¢1.18 million.
Across banks and SDIs, total fraud exposure showed a decline in 2025.
The report revealed that the overall value at risk reduced from GH¢79.7 million in 2024 to GH¢64.5 million in 2025.
Financial institutions recovered approximately GH¢3.7 million, representing about 5 per cent of the total fraud value at risk of GH¢68.2 million, reducing the final exposure to GH¢64.5 million.
The report noted that although fraud levels have declined in several traditional banking areas, the nature of financial crime continues to evolve, with fraudsters increasingly exploiting digital platforms, electronic transactions and weaknesses in internal controls.
The findings highlight the importance of continued investment in cybersecurity, employee accountability, fraud detection technologies and stronger operational controls.
While the decline in fraud cases signals progress within Ghana’s financial sector, the increasing value associated with specific fraud categories demonstrates that financial institutions must remain proactive in identifying and preventing emerging threats.
The report concludes that strengthening collaboration between banks, regulators, fintech companies and customers will be critical to protecting Ghana’s financial ecosystem from increasingly sophisticated fraud schemes.
