Nigeria Central Bank Mandates AI Tools for AML Monitoring

The Central Bank of Nigeria has formally incorporated artificial intelligence into its anti-money-laundering framework, requiring banks, fintech firms and payment companies to deploy automated monitoring systems to detect financial crime.

The rules, released Tuesday, mark the first time the regulator has explicitly referenced artificial intelligence and machine learning within Nigeria’s AML standards. The new framework requires financial institutions to move away from largely manual compliance processes and implement technology-driven systems capable of detecting suspicious transactions and supporting regulatory reporting.

The CBN said the shift reflects the increasing digitisation of Nigeria’s financial system, where mobile banking, fintech platforms and instant payments have expanded transaction volumes and complexity. “As financial services become increasingly digitised and complex, manual AML controls are no longer sufficient to manage evolving risks,” the regulator said.

Under the rules, institutions must deploy integrated AML systems capable of customer risk profiling, sanctions and politically exposed persons screening, suspicious transaction monitoring and regulatory reporting. These platforms must connect with core banking infrastructure and onboarding systems to assess transactions based on a customer’s behaviour and profile rather than analysing individual transactions in isolation.

The guidelines also encourage the use of AI techniques such as anomaly detection, behavioural pattern recognition and automated risk scoring. However, the CBN said institutions must ensure governance oversight of machine learning systems, including annual independent model validation and explainable alerts that allow investigators to understand why a transaction was flagged.