{"id":2000128525,"date":"2026-10-08T16:02:40","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T14:02:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/?p=2000128525"},"modified":"2026-10-08T16:02:42","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T14:02:42","slug":"rwanda-cyber-fraud-falls-30-but-fund-recovery-remains-low","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/rwanda-cyber-fraud-falls-30-but-fund-recovery-remains-low\/","title":{"rendered":"Rwanda cyber fraud falls 30%, but fund recovery remains low"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The number of fraud cases declined to 2,879 in the second quarter from 4,128 during the same period in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The amount involved also fell by 26%, from Rwf637 million in the second quarter of 2025 to Rwf471 million in the same period this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, only 3.6% of the amount involved in fraud during the second quarter had been recovered, highlighting the continued challenge of tracing and recovering funds after fraudulent transactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BNR Governor Soraya Hakuziyaremye presented the figures on Thursday, October 8, during the presentation of BNR\u2019s second Monetary Policy and Financial Stability Statement for 2026 at the Kigali Serena Hotel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hakuziyaremye said fraud and cyber risks remain key operational concerns as the use of digital financial services continues to expand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith digitization, one of our key operational concerns is around fraud and cyber fraud,\u201d Hakuziyaremye stressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Governor Hakuziyaremye said the number of fraud cases declined to 2,879 in the second quarter from 4,128 during the same period in 2025.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The decline in fraud comes as digital payments grow rapidly across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The value of electronic payments reached the equivalent of 341% of GDP in the first half of 2026, up from 321% during the same period last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Retail payments also increased by 36% to Rwf27.8 trillion in the first six months of 2026, from about Rwf20.4 trillion a year earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mobile payments were among the key drivers of the growth in digital transactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BNR has continued to strengthen measures to address fraud and other risks linked to the rapid adoption of digital financial services, including enhanced electronic know-your-customer requirements and closer monitoring of payment service providers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The central bank has also urged users to remain vigilant against scams, with social engineering and other deceptive tactics continuing to be used to trick customers into authorising fraudulent transactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Financial outlook<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the period under review, the economy grew by 9.7% with industry leading growth, followed by services. The central bank expects the economy to grow by 7.8% for the full year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Rwanda’s economy grew by 9.7% in the first half of 2026.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

However, inflation remained a key concern, averaging 11.2% in the first half of the year before rising to 15.7% in August, driven mainly by higher food, energy and transport prices. BNR expects inflation to average about 13.9% in 2026 before easing below the upper target band of 8% in the second half of 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The financial sector also continued to expand, with total assets rising by nearly 23% to Rwf17.5 trillion in the first half of the year. Bank lending increased by 22% to Rwf6 trillion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
BNR Governor Soraya Hakuziyaremye presented the figures on Thursday, October 8, during the presentation of BNR\u2019s second Monetary Policy and Financial Stability Statement for 2026 at the Kigali Serena Hotel.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
The briefing brought together government officials, financial sector leaders, and development partners.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Bank of Kigali CEO Dr Diane Karusisi follows the briefing.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Nick Barigye, Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Rwanda, follows the presentation.
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fraud cases in Rwanda\u2019s financial sector fell by 30% in the second quarter of 2026, but the recovery of money lost to fraud remained low, according to the National Bank of Rwanda (BNR).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":2000128500,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[151,70],"byline":[192],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-2000128525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-editors-choice","tag-main-home-ighlight","byline-wycliffe-nyamasege"],"bylines":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":2000122456,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-14-at-11.58.47-AM.jpeg","title":"WhatsApp Image 2026-08-14 at 11.58.47 AM","mime_type":"image\/jpeg"},"user_id":131}],"contributors":[{"id":192,"name":"Wycliffe Nyamasege","slug":"wycliffe-nyamasege","description":"","image":{"id":2000122456,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/08\/WhatsApp-Image-2026-08-14-at-11.58.47-AM.jpeg","title":"WhatsApp Image 2026-08-14 at 11.58.47 AM","mime_type":"image\/jpeg"},"user_id":131}],"featured_image":{"id":2000128500,"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/10\/image_18.jpg.jpg.jpeg","alt":"Rwanda cyber fraud falls 30%, but fund recovery remains low","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","width":1600,"height":1068,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/10\/image_18.jpg.jpg.jpeg","width":1600,"height":1068},"medium":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/10\/image_18.jpg.jpg.jpeg","width":1600,"height":1068},"medium_large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/10\/image_18.jpg.jpg.jpeg","width":1600,"height":1068},"large":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/10\/image_18.jpg.jpg.jpeg","width":1600,"height":1068},"full":{"url":"https:\/\/cdn.igihe.com\/en\/2026\/10\/image_18.jpg.jpg.jpeg","width":1600,"height":1068}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000128525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2000128525"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000128525\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2000128527,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2000128525\/revisions\/2000128527"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2000128500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2000128525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2000128525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2000128525"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=2000128525"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=2000128525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}