Ghana: Scam Is Costing The Banking Business USD $67bn Annually

August 22, 2022

By Maxwell Nkansah The boom in digital payment platforms and digital banking systems has come with its own risks and costs to the financial industry. The latest figures from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) indicate that the global financial industry loses about US$67 billion to fraud-related activities annually. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) also reports that about US$1.6 trillion is laundered globally through banks each year for criminal enterprises and terrorist activities. Annually, fraud costs the banking industry $67 billion. Two institutions are committed to supporting the country’s banks. Emmanuel Bruce wrote this. Business Information Rivi Varghese, CEO of Clari5, making a presentation to the media, Rivi Varghese, CEO of Clari5, making a presentation to the media, The Facebook sharing button, Twitter sharing button, What Sapp sharing button, this sharing button, the email sharing button, the Messenger sharing button, the LinkedIn sharing button, the boom in digital payment platforms and digital banking systems has come with its own risks and costs to the financial industry. The latest share Twitter figures from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) indicate that the global financial industry loses about US$67 billion to fraud-related activities annually. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) also reports that about US$1.6 trillion is laundered globally through banks each year for criminal enterprises and terrorist activities. In Ghana, the situation is no different as the 2021 Banking and Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions (SDIs) and Electronic Money Issuers (EMIs) fraud report issued by the Bank of Ghana indicated that the banking sector lost GH61 million through fraud and other banking malpractices in 2021. The need for banks to, therefore, strengthen their anti-fraud systems and anti-money laundering systems has become more necessary than ever. It is against this background that IT solutions company, CWG Ghana, has committed to deepening its collaboration with financial crime risk management company, Clari5, to jointly help banks combat enterprise fraud and money laundering. In a media interaction, the Chief Executive Officer of Clari5, Rivi Varghese, who is on a business visit to Ghana, said the two institutions were committed to helping Ghanaian financial institutions maintain their trust with customers. Trust is essential. He said Clari5 currently serves over 710 million accounts globally, operates in 24 countries, and processes about 10 billion transactions each day. He said the company was, therefore, ready to bring this expertise and experience to help Ghanaian institutions. "Trust is so essential, and if we lose trust in our financial system, then our economy collapses." That is why central banks and commercial banks invest heavily in making things trustworthy. "There are normally about 10,000 attacks on every bank each day, which requires that every bank strengthen its systems," he stated. The Managing Director of CWG Ghana Limited, Harriet Attram Yartey, said Clari5, which is one of its strategic partners, was in the country for a visit that seeks to strengthen the business relationship between the two institutions. She said the visit was also to ensure that some of the customers that have already started engagement with the company were moving forward in the right direction. Ms. Yartey noted that the CWG had been in operation for over three decades across the continent and would be celebrating its 20th anniversary in Ghana next year.