Business
Access Bank Loses N1.69 Billion To Fraud, Forgery Incidents In 2024
The foremost Nigerian financial institution, Access Bank recorded a loss of N1. 69 Billion to fraud in 2024.
NewsReport reports that this was disclosed in the institution’s full year 2024 financial report released on Wednesday, 16th of April, 2025, and made available to this publication.
The lender’s earnings report shows that 11,410 incidents involving N3.5 billion were successful, compared to 6,634 cases involving N8.61 billion in the previous year.
A total of 1,846 failed attempts involving N149.3 million were recorded, down from 6,405 cases involving N1.69 billion in 2023.
In comparison to 2023, the bank was able to reduce losses to fraud and forgery incidents from N6.15 billion (2023) to N1.69 Billion (2024).
“This report represents the fraud and forgery incidents that occurred during the year. It is a summation of attempted and successful fraud incidents. The actual loss that was incurred by the Bank for the year is N1,69bn (December 2023: N6.15bn )”
Meanwhile, it would be recalled that TRIXX NG reports that the financial institution was fined about N1.2 Billion for contraventions by regulatory bodies including the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the year under review.
It is worth noting that the bank paid the sum of N69 million penalty for contravention of regulations on reporting of cyber incidents that occurred in the Bank. This incident could be related to the fraudulent activities that incurred a N1.69 billion loss on the institution.
Below are the penalties issued against Access Holdings:
- The sum of N300 Million was paid as penalty for wrong warehousing of funds received from a government agency in April 2024, the sum of N157.5 Million was paid as penalty for contraventions of AML regulations, the sum of N2 Million was paid as penalty for contravention of consumer protection regulation in respect of wrong renewal of debit cards
- The Sum of N5 million was paid as a penalty for contravention of regulations on targeted financial sanctions and screening solutions relating to the Bank’s database
- The sum of N5 million was paid as a penalty for contravention of regulations on mystery shopping for confiscated Naira notes
- The Sum of N5 million as a penalty for contravention of regulations on targeted financial sanctions and screening solutions relating to the Bank’s database.
- The sum of N69 million penalty for contravention of regulations on reporting of cyber incidents that occurred in the Bank,
- The Sum of N100.6m penalty for unauthorized sale of securities, and the Sum of N561 million penalty for contravention of AML regulations.
On the positive side, the Group delivered 88% year-on-year growth in gross earnings, rising from N2.594 trillion in 2023 to N4.878 trillion in 2024. The strong performance was driven by diversified income streams, with interest income growing by 110% to N3.480 trillion and non-interest income increasing by 47.8% to N1.397 trillion, supported by robust retail banking activities, digital expansion, and a dynamic trading strategy.
