NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Reported incidents of payment fraud declined in 2023 by two-thirds according to the Central Bank, with the associated value of those fraudulent transactions declining by nearly 73 percent.
The Central Bank, in its 2023 annual report, noted: “In 2023, the reported frequency of these cases declined by two-thirds to 2,080- while the associated value reduced more sharply to $5.8 million from $21.2 million the previous year. Disseragted by type, debit card fraud incidents comprised 66.6 percent of total cases while the corresponding value represented 23.1 percent of the overall value. The volume of credit card fraud transactions constituted 32 percent of the total cases and four percent of the attendant value. With the sustained reduction in cheque usage, reported cheque fraud was 1.3 percent of total incidents, however, these cases represented 72.9 percent of the overall amount reflective of the typical high value of these types of transactions.”
The regulator also noted that in terms of card-based payments, the number of debit card transactions rose by 19 percent to 24.8 million and in value by 18.9 percent to $2.8 billion, year-on-year. In the meantime, banks reported an estimated 16.7 percent increase in consumer credit card usage to $1.4 billion.
On an annualized basis the, the total number of ATMs deployed rose by 1.8 percent to 392. Meanwhile, the volume of ATM transactions grew by 13 percent to $10 million and the corresponding value by 26.2 percent to $2.7 billion year-on-year.
Regarding Internet banking, the report noted that in 2023, the total number of users, including residential, business, public sector, and others, expanded by 19.5 percent to 118,212.
The Central Bank also noted that regarding dormant accounts or accounts with which there has been no customer activity for at least seven years, it maintained 44,057 such accounts with balances totaling $99.1 million as of December 31st, 2023. These were denominated in five currencies namely the US dollar, Bahamian dollar Canadian Dollar, Swiss franc, Euro, and British pound. As of December 31st, 2023, an estimated $4.1 million in dormant funds was due for remittance to the government against the applicable 10-year custodial period expiration.
The regulator also revealed that the government to-date has yet to commence repayment of the $232.3 million IMF special drawing rights (SDRs) borrowing, a move that initially drew heavy criticism from the Opposition.
The Central Bank’s report noted: “During November 2022, the Government and Central Bank agreed on a Memorandum of Understanding (the “MOU”) that allowed the Government to access SDRs totaling $174.8 million. The SDRs are convertible into US$ and at year-end, the loan totaled $234,152,905 (2022: $232,661,032). The loan bears variable interest rates, which fluctuate every month, ranging from 2.92 percent to 4.20 percent (2022: 2.92 percent to 4.20 percent). The interest shall be repaid at such frequency and on such dates as may be set by the IMF which is normally every quarter. To date, the Government has not commenced repayment of the loan.”
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