CBN 2025 Report Shows BVN Fraud Watchlist Up 38% as Banking Security Strengthens

CBN's 2025 Annual Report shows Nigeria's banking fraud detection strengthened, with BVNs on the industry watchlist rising 38.4% to 13,117 (from 9,476 in 2024) and deceased persons' BVNs up 36.2% to 28,754. This reflects improved monitoring, not system weakness, amid historical losses of N134.48 billion to fraud between 2020-2025.

Meanwhile, BVN enrollment grew to 67.82 million registrations (+5.3% year-on-year), with bank accounts linked to BVNs jumping to 368.92 million and active accounts reaching 339.26 million. The CBN states this dual growth in flagged risks and system adoption demonstrates sustained financial inclusion and strengthened integrity of the BVN platform.

As part of the Payments System Vision 2028 emphasizing cybersecurity, the CBN introduced stricter controls on suspicious transactions while giving customers chance to resolve flags. With fraud attempts totaling N187.79 billion over six years, the expanding watchlist shows banks are catching more threats before they succeed.

SOURCE: https://nairametrics.com/2026/07/30/fraud-watchlist-expands-by-38-as-banks-flag-13117-bvns-in-2025/