{"id":872745,"date":"2026-09-06T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-06T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=872745"},"modified":"2026-09-04T17:54:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T15:54:09","slug":"alarm-bells-for-anyone-with-banking-apps-on-their-phones-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/banking\/872745\/alarm-bells-for-anyone-with-banking-apps-on-their-phones-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Alarm bells for anyone with banking apps on their phones in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

South Africans using banking apps on their phones face a growing threat of fraud, with digital banking crime emerging as one of the most significant financial crime risks in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the South African Banking Risk Information Centre (SABRIC), reported client claim amounts linked to digital banking crime more than doubled over three years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Claims rose to R2.41 billion in 2025. This represented a 29.2% increase from approximately R1.86 billion in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The number of reported digital crime incidents also continued to climb, increasing from 52,588 in 2023 to 97,547 in 2024 and reaching 110,074 in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The average loss per incident was R21,865 last year, compared with R19,095 in 2024 and R20,649 in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Banking apps were by far the biggest channel involved. SABRIC recorded 97,555 banking-app client-claim investigations in 2025, accounting for 88.6% of all digital banking crime cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The claims associated with these cases amounted to R1.70 billion, or 70.5% of the total.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBanking App was the primary channel for Digital Banking Crime in 2025. This does not mean that banking applications or bank systems were compromised,\u201d SABRIC said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn many cases, the fraud began outside the banking platform, when criminals impersonated trusted organisations, created urgency, or guided customers through transactions in real time,\u201d the organisation said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe banking application is used to add beneficiaries, approve payments or move funds after the customer had been deceived.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vishing, or voice-phishing, remained a major method. Criminals would impersonate banks, government institutions, or other trusted organisations and tell victims that their accounts were at risk or that a suspicious transaction had occurred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Victims could then be persuaded to move their money to a supposed \u201csafe account\u201d, with criminals remaining on the phone and providing step-by-step instructions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SABRIC said transactions were sometimes carried out in rapid succession, including payments to newly created beneficiaries, leaving little time to stop the money once the victim had been deceived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fraud remains rife in South Africa <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Remote-access scams were another prominent threat. Victims were persuaded to install software or activate screen sharing under the pretence of receiving technical support, fraud-prevention assistance, or account verification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnce device control was obtained, funds were typically transferred through a single decisive transaction to a newly created beneficiary, often immediately after access was granted,\u201d SABRIC said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The organisation also warned that artificial intelligence could make impersonation scams more convincing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Criminals are increasingly able to create polished phishing messages, realistic images and believable voice recordings. SABRIC said isolated cases involving cloned voices had also been reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Internet banking accounted for only 8.5% of digital banking investigations, but the 9,354 cases resulted in R688.3 million in claims, representing 28.6% of the total.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mobile banking through USSD and cellphone channels accounted for 3,165 investigations and R22 million in claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The wider fraud picture was also concerning. Combined gross losses on South African-issued credit and debit cards increased by 18% year-on-year, from R1.48 billion in 2024 to R1.75 billion in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Credit-card losses rose 29.3% to R739.2 million, while debit-card losses increased 10.9% to R1.01 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Category<\/th>Specific Measure <\/th>2024<\/th>2025<\/th>Y-o-Y Change<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Digital Banking Crime<\/strong><\/td>Total Client Claim Amount (Gross Loss)<\/td>R1,862,633,862<\/td>R2,406,728,972<\/td>+29.2%<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>Reported Incidents \/ Investigations<\/td>97,547<\/td>110,074<\/td>+12.8%<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>Average Loss per Incident<\/td>R19,095<\/td>R21,865<\/td>+14.5%<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Card Fraud (Gross Losses)<\/strong><\/td>Combined Credit & Debit Card Losses<\/td>R1,479,082,576<\/td>R1,745,352,519<\/td>+18.0%<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>Credit Card Fraud Losses<\/td>R571,805,478<\/td>R739,234,011<\/td>+29.3%<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>Debit Card Fraud Losses<\/td>R907,277,098<\/td>R1,006,118,508<\/td>+10.9%<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>Domestic Card Losses (SA transactions)<\/td>R598,056,523<\/td>R857,459,174<\/td>+43.3%<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Card Fraud Sub-Types<\/strong><\/td>Card Not Present (Credit Card)<\/td>R424.6m*<\/td>R402,109,115<\/td>-5.3%<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>Card Not Present (Debit Card)<\/td>R583.1m*<\/td>R378,416,008<\/td>-35.1%<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>Lost and\/or Stolen (Credit Card)<\/td>R40,511,605<\/td>R34,172,551<\/td>-15.6%<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>Lost and\/or Stolen (Debit Card)<\/td>R252,633,375<\/td>R253,002,632<\/td>+0.1%<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Vehicle Asset Finance (VAF)<\/strong><\/td>Reported Applications \/ Incidents<\/td>50,885<\/td>71,747<\/td>+41.0%<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>Potential Loss (Declined)<\/td>R19.7 billion<\/td>R28.3 billion<\/td>+43.8%<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Home \/ Mortgage Loan Fraud<\/strong><\/td>Reported Applications \/ Incidents<\/td>4,780<\/td>4,942<\/td>+3.4%<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>Potential Loss (Declined)<\/td>R6.1 billion<\/td>R5.3 billion<\/td>-12.3%<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>Actual Realised Loss<\/td>R599.7 million<\/td>R595.9 million<\/td>-0.6%<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Unsecured Lending Fraud<\/strong><\/td>Reported Applications \/ Incidents<\/td>62,367<\/td>41,148<\/td>-34.0%<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>Potential Loss (Declined)<\/td>R1.6 billion<\/td>R1.2 billion<\/td>-28.5%<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
Contact Crime: Robbery & Attacks<\/strong><\/td>Associated Robbery Incidents<\/td>414<\/td>592<\/td>+43.0%<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>Associated Robbery Cash Losses<\/td>R7,976,439<\/td>R6,236,770<\/td>-21.8%<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>ATM Attack Incidents<\/td>301<\/td>163<\/td>-45.8%<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>ATM Attack Cash Losses<\/td>R27,688,690<\/td>R10,185,900<\/td>-63.2%<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>Bank Burglary Incidents<\/td>27<\/td>22<\/td>-18.5%<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>Bank Burglary Cash Losses<\/td>~R1.5 million<\/td>~R2.2 million<\/td>+52.0%<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>Bank Robbery Incidents<\/td>8<\/td>2<\/td>-75.0%<\/strong><\/td><\/tr>
<\/td>Bank Robbery Cash Losses<\/td>R3,672,357<\/td>R630,000<\/td>-82.8%<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South Africans using banking apps on their phones face a growing threat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":794901,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"posted","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"2096463667906670670","_sma_facebook_post_id":"191437357620492_2197289824424750","_sma_instagram_post_id":"17981884371072904","_sma_x_attempts":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[961],"tags":[7368,21466],"class_list":["post-872745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-banking","tag-banking-apps","tag-the-south-african-banking-risk-information-centre-sabric"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=872745"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872745\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":872804,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872745\/revisions\/872804"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/794901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=872745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=872745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=872745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}