By Seun Ibiyemi
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recovered a record N19.12 billion and $329.3 million for bank customers in 2025 through the resolution of consumer complaints, while imposing N1.69 billion in sanctions on financial institutions for regulatory and consumer protection violations.
The figures were contained in the apex bank’s 2025 Annual Report, which also revealed a sharp rise in fraud-linked Bank Verification Numbers (BVNs), even as losses from digital payment fraud fell significantly during the year.
According to the report, customer refunds in naira more than doubled from N9.66 billion in 2024 to N19.12 billion in 2025, while refunds in foreign currency surged from $670,000 to $329.3 million.
The CBN said it received 23,129 consumer complaints during the year, representing a 10.53 per cent increase from the 20,925 complaints recorded in 2024. It attributed the increase to greater public awareness and growing confidence in its consumer complaint resolution mechanism.
Out of the total complaints received, the apex bank successfully resolved 18,824 cases, representing a 9.36 per cent increase over the 17,213 complaints resolved in the previous year.
The value of customer claims also rose sharply during the period. Claims denominated in naira increased to N40.61 billion from N17.13 billion, while foreign currency claims climbed to $344.2 million, compared with $1.06 million in 2024.
To strengthen compliance with consumer protection regulations, the CBN sanctioned several financial institutions.
The report showed that the regulator imposed 11 penalties worth N1.26 billion for regulatory breaches and failure to respond to supervisory queries.
It also issued 21 additional penalties valued at N430 million for delays in resolving customer complaints and failure to comply with regulatory directives, bringing total sanctions for the year to N1.69 billion.
On financial system integrity, the report disclosed that the number of Bank Verification Numbers linked to fraud on the CBN’s watchlist increased by 38.4 per cent to 13,117 in 2025 from 9,476 in 2024.
The number of BVNs classified as belonging to deceased persons on the watchlist also rose to 28,754, up from 21,118 in the preceding year.
Despite the increase in fraud-linked BVNs, the apex bank reported a significant decline in losses arising from digital payment fraud, which fell by more than half to N25.85 billion in 2025 from N52.26 billion recorded a year earlier.
The CBN attributed the improvement to enhanced fraud monitoring systems, stronger internal controls and the integration of the Bank Verification Number (BVN) with the National Identity Number (NIN), which has strengthened customer identity verification across the financial system.
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However, the regulator warned that payment service providers with weak fraud detection systems continued to suffer substantial losses, noting that banks and fintech firms remained prime targets for ransomware attacks, data breaches and identity theft.
It also cautioned that cyber threats had become increasingly sophisticated and organised, warning that unlicensed payment service providers posed significant risks to consumers because they operate outside regulatory oversight and could facilitate money laundering.
The report further showed continued expansion in the National Collateral Registry (NCR), underscoring growing access to secured lending.
The value of naira-denominated credit perfected through the registry rose to N2.38 trillion in 2025 from N1.57 trillion in 2024, while cumulative financing statements increased to N24.78 trillion.
Foreign currency secured lending also recorded robust growth, with perfected credit in US dollars rising to $401.43 million from $227.83 million, bringing cumulative dollar-denominated financing statements to $4.28 billion.
Credit perfected in euros stood at €6.02 million, while cumulative euro-denominated financing statements reached €18.95 million.
The number of financing statements registered on the National Collateral Registry increased by 12.4 per cent to 85,473, up from 76,031 in 2024. Active financial institutions using the platform also rose to 97, compared with 74 in the previous year.
The report highlights the CBN’s intensified consumer protection efforts, stronger regulatory enforcement and continued expansion of secured lending, even as financial institutions grapple with evolving cyber threats and fraud risks.
