Fintech firms in Ghana are poised to set up single Command Centre to fight rising digital payments fraud in the country in real-time.
These firms comprise of the regulated mobile money operators (dedicated electronic money issuers), payment service providers (PSPs), money transfer operators and the wider financial service ecosystem.
This came to light during a panel discussion at the maiden Fintech Partners Exchange event organised by MobileMoney Fintech LTD.
So far, all fintech players, particularly the mobile money operators have handled their fraud combat operations in silos, even though a lot of the mobile money fraud happen across networks and platforms.
Fraudster would often go through either a fintech platform to steal money from traditional mobile money wallet or bank account, or they will start their social engineering tactics with a call from one telecoms network and terminate in a wallet on another network.
The other challenge that has faced the fight against digital finance fraud is the issue of speed. Operators often go through a myriad of processes in trying to get to the fraudsters. By the time they go full circle, the fraudster would have covered their backs making it difficult for any arrests to be effected. In the end, the operators either leave the victim to hang dry or the operators refund the stolen money from their own resources.
The way fraudsters operate have always required a concerted effort by the fintech ecosystem to combat fraud, hence the importance of the command centre.
Commenting on the proposed Command Centre, the CEO of MobileMoney Fintech LTD, Shaibu Haruna, said the proposal is a laudable one, adding “The comment from the platform today is very clear that we need one integrated real-time platform that facilitates this”.
He therefore charged the stakeholders to tease out the critical elements and then work as an industry through a regulator who has the statutory and legal power to be able to guide the ecosystem to set up the centre.
Shaibu Haruna indicated that they would work with the Bank of Ghana and other allied regulators to ensure that they design a framework for an effective Command Centre targeted at combating digital fraud in real-time.
Senior Manager for Enterprise Risk at MobileMoney Fintech LTD, Nanatunde Davis, explained that “the ultimate goal to build a command centre where we will have teams from all the fintech operators who are able to in real-time be able to identify a fraud issue when you make a call and be able to readily address issues – whether to hold the funds or to help you investigate or to suspend the number or prevent the funds from being withdrawn”.
The four other panelists – Head of Forensic Services, Stanbic Bank Ghana, Stephen Tefeh; Head of Internal Affairs Risk Transactions Monitoring & Revenue Assurance) at Hubtel, Ebenezer Boffour; Director of Cybercrime, Ghana Police Service, Chief Superintendent Emmanuel Gyebi; and Board Chair, MobileMoney Agents Association of Ghana (MAAG), Joshua Edmondson, described the proposed setting up of the centre as a welcoming news that could to reduction and possible elimination of digital payments fraud in the country.
