Heritage Bank prioritises tech to tackle fraud

Heritage Bank Plc has called on internal auditors of banks to adopt digital technologies to prevent fraud in the financial ecosystem.

Speaking at the 47th Quarterly Meeting of the Association of Chief Audit Executives of Banks in Nigeria (ACAEBIN), the MD/CEO of the bank, Ifie Sekibo, citing the PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PWC’s) Global Economic Crime and Fraud Survey 2020, said the cost of cybercrime was worth an eye-watering $42 billion, which was cash taken straight off companies’ bottom lines.

Sekibo, who spoke on the theme: “Elevating Internal Audit’s Role in the Face of Emerging Risks and Opportunities”, said, “For auditors to be relevant in harnessing the opportunities in today’s business world, they must become versed in cyber security, artificial intelligence, data analytics, fraud management, regulatory pronouncements, forensics, etc., and having equipped themselves, present balanced, objective audit reports to executive management while striking the right balance between the assurance and consulting responsibilities.”

Yetunde Oladeji, Director of Internal Audit Services at PWC, advised that the banking sector should be dynamic, prioritise digitisation and flexible workforce strategies.