FG Set To Ban Use Of SMS In Banking Transactions

Federal government may soon ban the sending of vital bank
details via short message services (SMS) in Nigeria due to of its connected
risks.

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) said it was
already engaging with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to find better ways of
doing it.

Executive Vice Chairman, NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta,
made this known at the consumer conversation held in Minna, Niger State
capital, adding that the commission was already engaging with the CBN to find
ways to ensure that mobile phone users’ vital information relating to their
bank accounts and financial transactions were not jeopardised should their
phones get lost or stolen.

Helen Obi, the Director and the Head of Zonal Operations Department, who represented Danbatta at the event, stated that NCC would protect phone users
in the country against any harm that could get to them or to their property
through the use of telecom services.

Obi advised phone users to adequately protect their PINs and
not carelessly save them in their phones.

Meanwhile, the NCC told all telecom operators in the country togive a 14-day grace for subscribers to exhaust their remaining data after the30 days’ expiration period before they are cut off.

The NCC has accused Nigerian banks of shielding fraudsters
who cart away depositors’ money through different guise. The telecommunications’
regulator also alleged that there were more cases of bank frauds more than what
banks are willing to disclose.