Adhere, TechCabal Unveil AI Compliance Report as Experts Warn of Evolving Fraud Risks

Adhere, an artificial intelligence-powered compliance and fraud prevention platform, has unveiled a new report highlighting the changing nature of financial fraud in Nigeria, warning that financial institutions must strengthen their compliance architecture to withstand increasingly sophisticated threats.

The report, titled “The Compliance Reckoning: Regulating Financial Services in the Age of AI,” was launched on Friday at the Adhere Compliance Frontline Forum 2026, themed “The Trust Frontier,” in Lagos. The event was organised in partnership with research and media platform TechCabal.

According to the report, reported digital payment fraud losses in Nigeria declined from ₦52.26 billion in 2024 to ₦25.85 billion in 2025. However, it noted that the reduction masks a worrying trend, with fraud losses increasing by approximately 350 per cent since 2020, despite a 31 per cent decline in the number of reported cases, indicating that attacks have become fewer but more sophisticated and financially damaging.

The report also placed Nigeria’s experience within the global financial landscape, estimating worldwide fraud losses at $442 billion in 2025. It found that AI-enhanced fraud is approximately 4.5 times more profitable than traditional fraud methods.

Despite processing more than 10 billion real-time transactions annually, Nigeria ranks 110th out of 112 countries for fraud protection and faces a cybersecurity workforce gap of about 90 per cent, according to the report.

The study further highlighted increasing regulatory pressure on financial institutions, noting that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) introduced 17 regulatory actions over a 14-month period covering cybersecurity, anti-money laundering (AML), and data protection, with six compliance deadlines falling between March 2026 and March 2028.

It also cited the ₦15.42 billion sanction imposed on a commercial bank in 2025 as evidence that regulatory breaches now pose significant risks to both financial performance and international banking relationships.

The report concluded that success over the next 18 months would depend less on adopting artificial intelligence tools and more on building robust compliance systems, including proactive fraud detection, comprehensive customer risk assessment, effective AI model governance and stronger collaboration across financial institutions.

The forum attracted senior compliance professionals, regulators, law enforcement officials and fintech executives. Assistant Inspector General of Police Uche Henry Ifeanyi delivered the keynote address on financial crime enforcement.

Panel discussions featured representatives from the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigeria Police Force Cybercrime Lab, Paystack, PAYAZA, ChamsSwitch, Utila, Seerbit, Hydrogen Payment Services, Novac Payments, Odua Investment, Fastspeed Technologies, Vertiv, Rack Centre and Seequre.

The event was organised in partnership with the Cyber Security Experts Association of Nigeria (CSEAN).

Speaking at the forum, Group Managing Director of Smartcomply, Gbemisola Osunrinde, said while the reduction in reported fraud cases was encouraging, institutions should not become complacent.

She said the next phase of the fight against financial crime would be determined by the strength of institutions’ compliance frameworks rather than the adoption of AI tools alone, stressing the need for continuous monitoring and proactive risk management.

Adhere, part of the Smartcomply Group, provides AI-powered compliance and fraud prevention solutions for African financial institutions. The company said it serves more than 1,000 organisations, is ISO 27001 certified, aligned with the Nigeria Data Protection Act, and is a Mastercard Engage partner.