Echotitbits – Nigeria News

Tag: ATMs

  • Alhamrani Universal, Stanchion Payments, INETCO Partner to Counter Payment Fraud Across Middle East

    Alhamrani Universal, Stanchion Payments, INETCO Partner to Counter Payment Fraud Across Middle East

    2026-01-21 09:00:00

    Alhamrani Universal, Stanchion Payments, INETCO Partner to Counter Payment Fraud Across Middle East

    Vancouver, Canada / Jeddah, Saudi Arabia — January 21, 2026

    Alhamrani Universal, a leading Saudi fintech solutions provider and the region’s largest ATM solution provider, has announced the deployment of INETCO BullzAI, an AI-powered cyber-fraud prevention platform, to strengthen payments security across the Middle East. The rollout is delivered through Stanchion Payments, INETCO’s global partner, as the three organizations position the initiative as a response to accelerating digital payments and increasingly sophisticated financial crime in the region.

    The companies said the deployment will provide real-time visibility into transactions across self-service terminals and digital payment channels, enabling Alhamrani Universal to validate terminal legitimacy, detect anomalies early, and protect transaction settlement workflows—an emphasis aligned with Saudi Arabia’s broader digital transformation agenda under Vision 2030.

    The announcement also pointed to heightened concern about cyber exposure across the Middle East’s financial services sector as cloud adoption and generative AI expand attack surfaces, referencing PwC’s 2025 Global Digital Trust Insights (Middle East) on breach impacts and costs.

    What INETCO BullzAI is expected to deliver

    • Real-time monitoring of every transaction with zero performance impact, improving visibility and helping identify unauthorized or unregistered terminals operating outside the licensed ecosystem.
    • Deeper payments intelligence using full transaction message-field access for flexible, no-code rule creation, behavioral modeling, and detailed reporting on volumes and terminal activity.
    • Rapid adaptation to evolving threats via self-training machine learning models that update after every transaction to detect emerging (“zero-day”) fraud patterns.
    • Pre-emptive blocking of high-risk activity through an AI-driven transaction firewall designed to stop attacks such as BIN attacks, malware, account takeovers, bot attacks, and card-present/card-not-present fraud without disrupting legitimate transactions.

    Echotitbits take: This partnership reflects a broader shift in payments security: fraud prevention is moving earlier in the transaction lifecycle—from post-incident investigation to real-time interdiction. The practical test will be measurable reduction in fraud losses and disputes, stronger compliance assurance, and improved settlement confidence without degrading customer experience.

    Source: Press Release (Alhamrani Universal / Stanchion Payments / INETCO) (2026-01-21)

  • CBN Pushes Banks: FirstBank ATMs to Accept International Cards

    CBN Pushes Banks: FirstBank ATMs to Accept International Cards

    Photo Credit: The Punch
    2025-12-25 09:15:00

    In an update published by The Punch, FirstBank says its ATMs will be enabled to accept international cards in line with a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) directive, a step aimed at improving foreign-card usability for travelers and visitors. The bank said the change is part of broader compliance work across Nigeria’s payment infrastructure.

    For customers, the biggest impact is convenience: foreign-issued cards should be able to withdraw cash (where permitted) and complete ATM transactions more smoothly, reducing friction for diaspora visitors and business travelers—especially during peak travel seasons.

    For banks and switching/payment processors, the directive implies backend reconfiguration, routing, and compliance checks to ensure international schemes work reliably across channels.

    Supporting reports show the regulator set deadlines and scope: Vanguard quoted the directive saying banks must “configure their ATMs to allow foreign cards” by “February 28, 2025,” while The Guardian reported the goal is for ATMs to accept “Visa, MasterCard, and other foreign cards.”

    Echotitbits take: This is a pro-diaspora, pro-tourism signal—but reliability is everything. Watch for early hiccups (declines, FX conversion disputes, downtime), and whether fees and FX spreads become the next consumer pain-point.

    Source: The Punch — December 25, 2025 (https://punchng.com/firstbank-atms-to-now-accept-intl-cards/)

    The Punch 2025-12-25

  • CBN tightens rules for foreign-card withdrawals as banks told to enable seamless use

    CBN tightens rules for foreign-card withdrawals as banks told to enable seamless use

    Photo Credit: The Punch
    2025-12-21 06:45:00

    Figures cited by The Nation show the Central Bank of Nigeria has directed banks and non-bank acquirers to configure ATMs, POS and virtual terminals to accept foreign-issued cards while applying stronger authentication above set thresholds.

    The circular instructs institutions to implement multi-factor authentication for foreign card withdrawals and online transactions above $200 per day, $500 per week, and $1,000 per month, and to maintain high system availability for smoother processing.

    Banks are also told to clearly disclose exchange rates and charges before completing transactions, and to strengthen transaction monitoring and KYC/AML controls for merchants handling foreign card payments.

    Premium Times reported the circular requires institutions to ensure terminals are configured to accept international cards and maintain availability to avoid failures, noting users should be shown terms before completion. Vanguard quoted the CBN directive: “implement multi-factor authentication for all withdrawals and online transactions exceeding $200 per day, $500 per week, and $1,000 per month.”

    Echotitbits take:
    For diaspora visitors and tourists, this could reduce declined transactions—if banks implement it cleanly. Watch for short-term disruption (higher declines during recalibration), plus how quickly institutions standardise FX rate disclosures and complaint-resolution timelines.

    Source: The Nation — December 21, 2025 (https://thenationonlineng.net/cbn-asks-banks-to-configure-atms-pos-terminals-for-foreign-card-transactions/)
    The Nation 2025-12-21