The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr Ola Olukoyede, has tasked Financial Technology Companies to be vigilant and insulate their networks from manipulative antics of fraudsters.
This is contained in a statement by the EFCC Spokesperson Dele Oyewale on Friday in Abuja.
Olukoyede gave the charge while addressing Chief Executive Officers, (CEOs) of Fintech companies at an industry engagement meeting held at the commission’s headquarters on Thursday in Abuja.
The EFCC boss lauded the corporate executives on their strides in opening global financial space and visual asset platforms for the country through measurable inclusion and innovation.
He, however, cautioned them against fraudsters who were exploiting the same space to perpetrate criminal activities.
“The opportunities you have created have also given the criminals the opportunity to perpetrate crimes and over the years.
”We discovered that there is a need for us to meet from time to time even in the interest of your business.
”We will also tell you things we are privy to in respect of your operations and services that we think criminals are actually exploiting, and we will tell you how to block those spaces and strengthen the regulatory regime around the business you do,” he said.
He called for stronger collaboration between the EFCC and the fintech companies for a sound working relationship and intelligence sharing.
He enjoined the business executives to jealously guard the integrity and reputation of their businesses, stressing that only good reputation grows businesses.
“It has taken some of you years to get to where you are and I tell you, one transaction mishandled can destroy what you have built for 10 years.
”You must be conscious of your reputation, that is the most valuable thing you need to grow in a business, not even the money.
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”Once a reputation is damaged, you can hardly get it back. We want to collaborate and work with you. That is one of the ways to fulfil our own mandate,” he added.
Olukoyede also urged business players in the country to always work in synergy with others to strengthen the regulatory regime and build strength against threats to the economy like insecurity.
He urged the fintech companies to firm up their networks against terrorism financing by complying with extant regulations regarding suspicious transaction reporting.
“We have been complaining about insecurity in Nigeria, of course we are also vested with the power to investigate terrorism financing and one of the areas we have seen that these people exploit is your space, we think it is high time we did something about that.
”People pay ransom and we discover that most times they collect the ransom through the POS, so what can we do to tidy up this loose end, is either by doing your KYC or coming up with other ideas?,” he said.
Discussions were held on a wide-range of operational and regulatory issues, all geared towards sanitising the working environment of fintech companies and building sterling strength against compromises and fraudulent engagements.
(NAN)
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