Senior Manager for Financial Crimes, Moses Tetteh, has warned that a security breach in one digital financial platform could expose customers’ other linked accounts to fraud, given the interconnected nature of Ghana’s financial ecosystem.
He said fraudsters who gain access to a customer’s mobile money wallet or banking application could exploit connections with other financial institutions to target additional accounts, obtain loans in the customer’s name and deplete their funds.
Speaking at the 14th Absa-UPSA Law School Quarterly Banking Roundtable, Mr Tetteh described the mobile money ecosystem as critical infrastructure in Ghana’s growing digital financial system.
He explained that over the past 15 years, mobile money services, bank accounts, cards and other financial platforms had become increasingly integrated, making transactions more convenient but also creating risks that require stronger security measures.
According to him, fraudsters who take over a customer’s application could attempt to exploit linked accounts across multiple financial institutions.
“If you have about three, four banks, they would want to exploit all these banks. They would want to take loans in your name, all in efforts to ensure they deplete whatever you have in your accounts.
“These are individual or single components of our transactional ecosystem. So they come together to make the whole when we are transacting. Where there is a breach in one, there is a high possibility it might affect the other,” he said.
He said financial institutions, mobile network operators and other industry players must recognise their shared responsibility in protecting customers across the digital transaction chain.
“Hence, it becomes very necessary for us as industry players to ensure that as much as possible, we have systems and controls in place to ensure we do not expose our customers,” he added.
Mr Tetteh called for stronger security systems and collaboration among industry players to minimise vulnerabilities and prevent fraudsters from exploiting connections between financial platforms.