Nigeria has formalised a new framework to combat digital fraud, with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) launching a shared telecoms intelligence platform to monitor SIM-related risks in real time.

CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso and NCC Executive Vice Chairman Aminu Maida signed a memorandum of understanding in Abuja establishing the Telecom Identity Risk Management System (TIRMS), according to an NCC statement.

The platform will allow banks and other financial institutions to verify whether a phone number linked to a transaction has been recently swapped, reassigned, flagged for suspicious activity or gone inactive, introducing a new layer of fraud detection at the point of transaction.

“Mobile numbers increasingly underpin identity, authentication, and financial access,” Maida said at the signing, as quoted by Ecofin Agency, adding that closer coordination between regulators was needed to ensure innovation is matched by strong governance and consumer protection.

The move comes as Nigeria continues to grapple with persistent, though fluctuating, levels of digital fraud. Nigerian banks lost NGN25.85bn ($20mn) to electronic payment fraud in 2025, down 51% from a year earlier, according to data presented by Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Managing Director Premier Oiwoh at the Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum.

Despite the decline, risks remain elevated, writes Ecofin Agency, citing a January 2026 brief by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies warned that SIM swap fraud, phishing and insider collusion continue to be dominant threats, while a drop in institutional reporting could be masking the true scale of losses.

TIRMS is designed to address a key vulnerability in Nigeria’s financial system. While the integration of the Bank Verification Number (BVN) with the National Identification Number (NIN) has strengthened identity checks at onboarding, it does not track the integrity of phone numbers used for transaction authentication over time.

This gap has been exploited in SIM swap attacks, where fraudsters gain control of a customer’s number, intercept one-time passwords and authorise transactions without breaching bank systems. By enabling real-time checks on number status, TIRMS aims to flag or block transactions when risk is highest.

The agreement also establishes joint CBN–NCC committees on payment systems, consumer protection and TIRMS governance, tasked with resolving operational issues, setting technical standards and overseeing implementation.

Officials said the framework could extend to broader areas of coordination, including sandbox testing for emerging payment technologies, open banking standards, QR-based payments and instant payment infrastructure.

Compared with peers, Nigeria’s approach is more centralised. While operators such as MTN Group (JSE:MTN) and Airtel Africa (LSE:AAF) have deployed GSMA-backed SIM swap verification APIs in some markets, TIRMS aggregates data across all domestic networks into a single regulator-backed platform accessible to licensed financial institutions.

However, implementation challenges remain. Integrating real-time data from multiple telecom operators — including Globacom and 9mobile — will require standardised APIs, commercial agreements and compliance with Nigeria’s Data Protection Act 2023, Ecofin Agency notes.

Cardoso said the system would be governed by strict operational guidelines, including encryption and consent protocols, but details on rollout timelines and technical specifications have yet to be disclosed.

The effectiveness of TIRMS will depend on how quickly regulators can operationalise the platform and whether banks and telecom operators can align on implementation, as Nigeria seeks to strengthen trust in its rapidly expanding digital payments ecosystem.