Digital Payment Providers Collaborate with UBA to Combat Scams in the Financial Sector

The National Payment Systems Services Association has collaborated with Uganda Bankers Association in order to combat scams becoming a threat to the financial industry as well as the development of online financial services.

A Memorandum of Association has been inked between both parties to jointly combat scams in the financial sector, according to information provided by the Managing Director of MTN Mobile Money Uganda Limited Richard Yego.

“We have realized that fraudsters hitting banks and mobile money customers are the same and we, therefore, plan to put up a centralized cyber security monitoring system that will enable us to blacklist any person or number suspected to have defrauded a bank customer so that the suspected fraudster is unable to do the same to a mobile money customer and vice versa,” he said.

According to Mr. Yego, MTN Mobile Money Uganda Ltd. has improved its security measures to prevent mobile apps from operating without a SIM card and to prevent mobile fund transfers within 24 hours after a SIM card has been changed. This comes after MTN MoMo’s anti-fraud initiative, Stop Bafere, saw a remarkable drop of more than 80% in digital payment fraud. 

Since criminals used SIM cards registered in the names of deceased persons or elderly in remote areas who were unaware of the transactions, preventing mobile money fraud has become difficult, according to Kenneth Natukunda, a Certified Financial Crime Specialist at the FIA. He asked owners of mobile phones to check the SIM cards that were registered to their personal credentials.

According to the spokesperson of the Uganda Bankers Association Patricia Amito, consumers of the financial industry should be motivated to keep track of the activities in the bank accounts to prevent any cases of fraud.

Andrew Rugamba, speaking on behalf of Airtel Mobile Commerce, urged users of mobile money to abide by security guidelines when transacting, refrain from sharing their One-Time Passwords (OTP) or PINs with others, and avoid using obvious PIN combinations like 12345, 00000, or 33333.

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