A Nigerian-British Chartered Engineer and Director of Information Security, Dr. Kingsley Chibuzor Aguoru, has petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission) EFCC) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to halt card PIN usage for online payments to protect Nigerians from being fleeced of their hard-earned money.

He said he was making a passionate appeal to secure financial practices in the country.

The UK-based Chartered Engineer, with over 20 years of experience in financial technologies and security, said he was compelled to bring attention to the critical flaws in Nigeria’s current online card payment practices, which expose customers to unnecessary risks and significant danger.

According to Aguoru, the continued use of PIN in online transactions puts Nigerians at a grave risk of being defrauded.

Aguoru noted that card PINs were designed for face-to-face transactions at ATMs and POS terminals where secure encryption methods protect users rather than online usage.

In the petition cited by this paper, titled: “Urgent Call to Ban Card PIN Usage for Online Payments in Nigeria”, Dr. Aguoru explained: “In 2005, I developed a solution to tackle prevalent fraud in card-not-present transactions in the United Kingdom using both online and offline OTP models, drawing on Cartesian geometry.

“Although major networks like Visa and Mastercard declined the innovation at the time, my OTP model has since become a standard worldwide for authorization.

He advised the CBN to urgently step forward for the safety of Nigerian cardholders by banning the use of card pins for online transactions and mandating the use of OTPs or other dynamic authentication methods, such as authorization through mobile banking apps.

He noted that there was a need for consumers to be educated on safe online payment practices to minimise exposure to phishing and other cyber threats.

He said it was also necessary for the CBN to enforce industry-wide compliance with modern security standards to protect Nigerian customers, especially on the web, through policies, such as security, and payments compliance policies.

Aguoru emphasised that by adopting these measures, the CBN will greatly reduce the risk Nigerian consumers face and bring the nation’s payment systems in with international best practices.

The Nigerian telecommunication regulator, NCC, has disqualified Nigerians below the age of 18 from getting a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card.

Sources at the commission told PREMIUM TIMES that this policy is aimed to “protect minors” from the liabilities that arise from the usage of such SIMs.

One source, a senior official of the commission, told PREMIUM TIMES that parents and guardians can acquire SIMs in their names on behalf of their children and wards and assume any responsibilities or liabilities that may arise from the use of such SIMs.

The overall intent, according to sources, is to protect minors and strengthen national security.

NCC has been tweaking its telecommunications policies to combat security threats in Nigeria.

Constitutionally, 18 years is the age of consent in Nigeria.

NCC believes SIM acquisition is a contract between service providers and their subscribers, which requires the subscriber to have proper legal status, be of mature mind and be rational enough to bear certain responsibilities, obligations and liabilities imposed by a contract.

In 2021, the NCC proposed a Registration of Telephone Subscribers Regulations where it suggested banning minors in Nigeria from acquiring a SIM card. That regulation is now in effect, officials said.

One of the NCC officials said the policy will place a significant responsibility on parents to monitor the mobile activities of their minors.

This newspaper’s efforts to reach the NCC spokesperson were unsuccessful as at press time.