Nigeria’s digital banking revolution is raising the stakes for consumer trust. The question is whether the industry is rising to meet them.

Nigeria’s relationship with digital banking has changed almost beyond recognition in a decade. Where cash once dominated every transaction, from the roadside market to the corporate boardroom, mobile apps, instant transfers and USSD codes have reshaped how tens of millions of Nigerians interact with their money every single day.

The figures speak for themselves: point-of-sale transactions surged to a record N18 trillion in 2024, a 69 per cent increase from the year before, and the number of POS terminals in operation more than doubled to 5.5 million. Mobile banking is now the most widely used digital financial service in the country, with four in five users having accessed it within any given 90-day window.

This is, by any honest measure, an extraordinary story of financial inclusion and technological adoption. But it is an incomplete story if told without its other half.

Behind the growth curves and transaction volumes, a quieter and more troubling story has been unfolding. According to the 2024 Nigeria Consumer Protection Survey published by Innovations for Poverty Action, nearly one in four digital financial services users reported experiencing unexpected fees, charges or fraud attempts in the past year. Of those who encountered a problem, only half sought any form of formal redress. That silence is not apathy. It is the sound of eroded confidence: customers who have concluded that raising a complaint is unlikely to produce results.

The fraud data from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System tells the same story from a different angle. Actual losses to digital payment fraud rose to N52.26 billion in 2024, a figure inflated significantly by a single N31.1 billion incident involving one institution but still representing a 196 per cent increase in fraud losses over five years, even as the number of individual cases declined.

The decline in case counts is not reassurance enough. It suggests that while fraudsters are making fewer attempts, they are making each one count considerably more.

By channel, e-commerce and internet banking remain the most exposed, followed by point-of-sale, mobile and web platforms.

The most common technique is social engineering, which requires no sophisticated technology at all. It requires only a convincing conversation and a customer who does not know what to guard against. Insider abuse, where bank staff are complicit in fraud, is identified by NIBSS as the single greatest structural threat to the sector.

That is a sobering finding, and one that no institution should read past quickly.

What this data collectively points to is a gap that the industry must confront honestly. Nigeria’s digital banking infrastructure has expanded at speed. The consumer protection architecture that should travel alongside it has not always kept pace.

Convenience and safety are not natural enemies, but they require deliberate and sustained design to coexist. Left to grow at different speeds, they create precisely the conditions that fraudsters, rogue actors and complacent institutions exploit.

The encouraging news is that the gap is closing. Nigeria exited the Financial Action Task Force’s grey list in 2025, a signal that the country’s financial system has materially strengthened its safeguards. The CBN’s 2024 rollout of risk-based cybersecurity frameworks for deposit money banks formalised the standard of care that institutions are required to demonstrate.

Regulatory enforcement actions in 2024, including reported industry penalties totalling over N15 billion, have underscored that consumer protection is a compliance obligation with real and immediate consequence. The industry is being held to a higher standard, and that is the right direction.

Within institutions themselves, the most effective safeguards are often the ones customers never see. The strongest security infrastructure operates silently in the background: monitoring account behaviour in real time, identifying anomalies before they become losses and intervening before a suspicious transaction completes rather than after.

This is not glamorous work, but it is the work that matters most. A customer who never has to report a fraud incident has been protected more effectively than one who was offered a sympathetic apology after the damage was done.

Union Bank’s experience illustrates what this balance looks like in practice.

According to the bank’s full-year 2025 customer experience data, its digital channels recorded strong customer satisfaction scores across all platforms: UnionMobile achieved a customer satisfaction score of 87 per cent and a net promoter score of 77, while the USSD channel (*826#) returned scores of 82 per cent and 70 respectively.

These are not numbers that emerge from convenience alone. They reflect what customers value above all else when they transact digitally: the confidence that the experience will be safe, seamless and complete.

That confidence is built through sustained investment in security infrastructure, proactive monitoring and an institutional culture that treats customer protection as a core value rather than a compliance line item.

It is a culture Union Bank articulates through its ICARE values, where the commitment to being customer and community-focused is not a policy position but a founding organisational principle, reinforced consistently from the moment any member of staff joins the bank.

In March, as institutions across Nigeria marked World Consumer Rights Day, Union Bank reaffirmed to its staff the responsibility that every individual within the organisation carries to uphold the rights and dignity of the customers it serves. It is the kind of internal commitment that rarely makes headlines, but that ultimately determines the quality of every customer interaction that does.

Trust is the only currency in banking that cannot be manufactured on demand. It is built over time, through consistent behaviour, through systems that protect customers before they know they need protecting, and through institutions willing to be accountable when they fall short. Nigeria’s digital banking revolution has done extraordinary things for financial access and economic participation. Its next chapter must be defined by what it does for financial safety. The two are not in competition. In the long run, they are, in every meaningful sense, the same thing.

Former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has returned to the Federal High Court in Kaduna to resume his trial over alleged financial improprieties following the burial of his mother, Hajiya Umma El-Rufai.

El-Rufai was seen entering the court premises under tight but orderly security presence, with officials closely monitoring movements around the facility as proceedings resumed.

The former governor’s return in the court comes after subsequent temporary release by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC.

JomogNews reported how he was allowed to attend the funeral rites of his late mother, Hajiya Umma El-Rufai, who died in Cairo, Egypt.

The release was alleged to have been approved on compassionate grounds following the family’s bereavement, although the ICPC has yet to officially disclose the specific conditions attached to the bail.

As of the time of filing this report, it remains unclear whether the former governor will retain his temporary bail status or be required to return to ICPC custody pending further court decisions.

Violent protests broke out in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa following the controversial coronation of a Nigerian national, Solomon Ogbonna Eziko, as a traditional Igbo king, with demonstrators torching vehicles and looting shops owned by foreign nationals.

The protests, led by members of ActionSA alongside traditional leaders and residents on Monday, were initially staged in opposition to what organisers described as a violation of the province’s sovereignty, constitutional order, and recognised traditional leadership structures.

However, tensions escalated rapidly in KuGompo City, where the protests turned violent, forcing police to intervene and disperse crowds, according to SABC News.

Video evidence shared on X showed protesters setting several vehicles and buildings allegedly belonging to foreigners on fire, while security forces intensified efforts to restore order.

“Protesters have torched vehicles and buildings allegedly belonging to foreign nationals in protest against the installation of a Nigerian king in the Eastern Cape,” Newsroom Afrika reported.

Similarly, CDR Africa disclosed that the unrest reflected growing outrage over the coronation, with foreign-owned properties becoming primary targets.

The situation further deteriorated, with eNCA reporting that the violence turned deadly following a stabbing incident allegedly involving Ethiopian shop owners.

At least two people were taken to the hospital for treatment, while several vehicles were destroyed in the chaos.

ActionSA’s Eastern Cape chair, Athol Trollip, reaffirmed the party’s opposition to the coronation in East London, describing it as unlawful and inconsistent with South Africa’s traditional leadership framework.

He said, “With the traditional leadership of the Eastern Cape, all the traditional leaders, and the people of the province, let me state clearly that ActionSA’s policy on illegal immigration is very clear. If you are in this country illegally and commit any offence, you will be sent back home.

“This is a sovereign nation. It is our nation, and we are protected by a constitution. Nowhere in our constitution is there a provision for a Nigerian from the Igbo tribe to be crowned as a king in the Eastern Cape.

“Beyond that, the utterances made at the coronation are what concern us as a party. They claimed to have established a kingship.”

He added that the party stood firmly with recognised traditional authorities, insisting that due process must be followed in matters of cultural and traditional governance.

“We have a painful history of homelands in this province—the former Ciskei and Transkei—where people were displaced, their land expropriated, and opportunities limited. We will not tolerate the establishment of another homeland.

“They went further to say they would encourage their brothers and sisters in Nigeria, in their hundreds of thousands, to come and establish a homeland here. That will not happen. This province is not up for the taking.

“We respect our traditional leaders. There are five recognised kingships acknowledged by the president and the constitution.

“We also take exception to the Nigerian Embassy’s claim that the coronation was merely customary. We want the Nigerian government to speak clearly against it, and we want our government to make an unambiguous statement affirming its recognition of existing traditional leaders and rejecting any Igbo kingship in the Eastern Cape or South Africa,” he added.

Some protesters issued stark warnings, vowing to escalate resistance if authorities fail to address their concerns.

A protester, Inoksi Sigcawu, said residents were prepared to “take up arms” if the matter remained unresolved, while others called for the deportation of Nigerians linked to the coronation.

Sigcawu said, “Our sovereignty is defined by the Constitution and the laws of this country. No one can come from elsewhere and undermine the authority of this nation or this kingdom.

“We are led by King Jongilizwe Sandile, a descendant of King Palo. We are appealing to the government to ensure that anyone involved in this illegal coronation is removed from the country immediately, whether they entered legally or not.

“We also call on authorities to investigate foreign-owned businesses, including spaza shops, to verify documentation.

“If law enforcement fails to act, people may take matters into their own hands. We do not want that, but we will not allow our authority to be undermined.”

He added that tensions must be addressed urgently to prevent further escalation.

The protesters had earlier marched through parts of the province, demanding immediate government intervention and warning that failure to act could trigger further unrest.

Meanwhile, the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission said it had yet to receive any official report regarding alleged attacks on Nigerians abroad, dismissing claims circulating on social media.

Speaking on the issue, NiDCOM spokesperson Abdur-Rahman Balogun said the commission could not act on unverified reports and would rely on official diplomatic channels.

“Well, we will get a report from our embassy there. I cannot comment on your report,” he said.

Balogun noted that neither the victims nor any official body had formally reported the incident to the commission.

“I cannot respond to social media reports. When incidents of this magnitude occur, they are usually reported through official channels and captured by our diplomatic missions,” he added.

He assured us that the commission would liaise with Nigeria’s embassy in South Africa to verify the situation.

However, the Nigerian High Commission in Pretoria issued an advisory on Monday evening, urging Nigerians in South Africa to remain cautious and vigilant.

The advisory urged Nigerians to maintain a low profile, avoid large gatherings, limit unnecessary travel, and be mindful of their social media activities, warning that misinformation could escalate tensions.

It emphasised the importance of unity, caution, and adherence to local laws, noting that while South Africa offers significant opportunities, safety must remain a priority amid rising tensions.

The High Commission stressed that the advisory was not meant to cause panic but to encourage responsible behaviour and prevent avoidable risks during the period of uncertainty.