Story: Business Desk

The Bank of Ghana says fraud incidents in Ghana’s digital financial space increased by 98% between 2022 and 2025, highlighting the growing risks accompanying the rapid shift to digital transactions. 

Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Matilda Asante-Asiedu, said the surge showed that financial criminals were  increasingly following customers into digital channels as the use of electronic payments expands. 

She disclosed that fraud incidents across Ghana’s financial ecosystem rose from 16,733 in 2024 to 24,778 in 2025, representing a 48% increase. 

The increase, she said, was driven overwhelmingly by digital transactions, even as fraud incidents within the traditional banking system declined. 

“It is not just a shift in the statistics or the data, but it’s also a shift in the financial crime landscape itself,” she said. 

Speaking at the opening of a technical committee workshop of the Committee for Cooperation Between Law Enforcement Agencies and the  Banking Community (COCLAB) at the Royal Senchi in the Eastern Region Mrs Asante Asiedu said the trend required regulators, financial institutions and law enforcement agencies to rethink how they combat financial crime. 

“Between 2022 and 2025, fraud incidents in the digital space increased by 98%, confirming again that criminal activity is also following the growth in digital transactions,” she said. 

She stressed that the risk extends beyond individual fintechs or payment service providers because their operations remain interconnected with banks and other parts of the financial system. 

“It’s not just a challenge for a PSP. Because think about it, a PSP’s account sits with a bank. And so if that fraud incident happens, it transcends one institution and it affects the entire financial ecosystem,” she said. 

Mrs. Asante Asiedu said the growing sophistication of fraudsters makes proactive intervention critical, particularly as consumers increasingly depend on digital channels for everyday payments. 

She urged COCLAB members to strengthen intelligence sharing, investigations, prosecutions and public awareness, arguing that success should ultimately be measured by a reduction in financial crimes and stronger protection for customers. 

“We should be so efficient that when the fraudster begins to think through their next move, they’ll also think, gosh, what if these people arrest me?” she said.