The Ghana Association of Banks (GAB) is pushing for deeper intelligence sharing and a common industry platform to recover funds lost to financial fraud, after the banking sector’s recovery rate stood at just about 5 per cent in 2025.
Speaking on the sidelines of GCB Bank’s “Inside the Scammers’ Playbook” fraud awareness event in Accra, GAB Chief Executive Officer John Awuah said banks, fintechs, payment service providers and telecommunications companies must collaborate more closely to prevent fraudsters from exploiting gaps between institutions.
“If fraud happens, we need to work a lot more together, we need to collaborate a lot more, and we need to cooperate a lot more so that we can improve the recovery rate,” Mr. Awuah said.
A Recovery Crisis in Numbers
The 5 per cent recovery figure is borne out by Bank of Ghana data. In 2025, approximately GH¢3.7 million—or just 5 per cent of the GH¢68.2 million reported fraud amount for banks and specialised deposit-taking institutions—was recovered . The central bank’s 2025 Fraud Report recorded 472 fraud cases in the banking sector, down 34 per cent from 716 in 2024, while the value at risk fell 24 per cent to GH¢57 million .
But recovery remains the sector’s weakest link. Industry reports covering the final quarter of 2025 show repeated instances of zero recovery once funds exit the banking system into mobile money ecosystems. In September 2025, five fraud cases involving GH¢310,300 yielded no recoveries whatsoever, resulting in a 100 per cent net loss .
Fraudsters Sharing Intelligence, Banks Lagging
Mr. Awuah argued that fraudsters are increasingly coordinating their activities and sharing intelligence, making it imperative for financial institutions to adopt the same approach.
“One thing, the fraudsters share a lot of information and intelligence. Banks have to be upfront with the PSPs, PSPs must be upfront with the banks. We don’t have to protect ourselves from ourselves,” he said at a separate banking roundtable earlier this month .
He noted that delays in information sharing allow fraudsters to move stolen funds across institutions and platforms before suspicious transactions are detected. “By the time the next player in the institution got awareness, well, they are two days down the line,” he said .
The GAB CEO stressed that customer confidence in digital finance depends not only on preventing fraud but on how effectively institutions respond when controls are breached.
“When fraud happens, where there is a system breach or there is a customer who has mistakenly allowed the fraudster into their financial system, our ability as operators to help the customer to recover, even when they are at fault, is a big foot in the doorway of trust,” he said.
GCB Bank Champions Customer Education
The event, held as part of GCB Bank’s Customer Service Month, brought together the National Signals Bureau, the Cybersecurity Authority, the Cybersecurity Unit of the CID, GAB and GCB’s internal cybersecurity team.
Cynthia Ofori-Dwumfuo, GCB’s Chief Marketing, Communications and Customer Experience Officer, said the initiative was designed to help customers identify common scam tactics and verify suspicious requests before acting. The bank is running its GCB Ɛyɛ Azaa Campaign alongside GAB’s “Spot the Fraud, Shine Your Eyes” campaign to strengthen public awareness .
GCB’s Chief Information Security Officer, Illiaso Zango, urged customers to never share PINs, passwords or card details, and to verify suspicious calls through official channels. “The bank will never ask you for your PIN, password, or card data,” he said .
A Shifting Fraud Landscape
The push for collaboration comes amid a broader transformation in Ghana’s fraud environment. While traditional banks have seen case numbers decline, payment service providers recorded 24,124 fraud cases in 2025—a 54 per cent rise—with the value at risk nearly doubling to GH¢37 million .
Cash suppression emerged as the single largest loss driver by value in the banking sector, totalling GH¢40.7 million in 2025, an 18-fold increase driven largely by one outlier case involving GH¢36 million .
Mr. Awuah said a common platform for fraud intelligence and response could significantly improve tracing and recovery, and ultimately deter fraudsters.
“If we work together, if we invest in a common platform to fight fraud, we will be able to improve our recovery rate from where we are now… to a level where we disincentivize the fraudsters,” he said.
