The Bank of Ghana (BoG) says Rural and Community Banks (RCBs) continued to bear the brunt of cash suppression cases within Ghana's specialised deposit-taking institution (SDI) sector in 2025, despite an overall decline in fraud.

According to the Central Bank's 2025 Fraud Report, cash suppression remained the most prevalent fraud type in the SDI sector, although reported cases fell sharply from 267 in 2024 to 109 in 2025, representing a 59 percent decline.

The Bank of Ghana said Rural and Community Banks recorded 56 of the 109 cash suppression cases, accounting for 51% of all such cases reported in the SDI sector during the year.

Overall, fraud cases across specialised deposit-taking institutions declined by 47%, from 344 cases in 2024 to 182 cases in 2025, reflecting improvements in fraud management across the sector.

However, despite the reduction in reported incidents, the financial exposure from fraud increased significantly. The Bank of Ghana reported that the value at risk rose by 77% to approximately GH¢8 million, compared with GH¢4.5 million in 2024.

Cash suppression remained one of the costliest fraud categories. The report notes that the value at risk from cash suppression increased to GH¢1.7 million from GH¢1.6 million, with Rural and Community Banks accounting for 90 percent of the cash suppression value at risk within the SDI sector.

The central bank also identified forgery and manipulation of documents as the single largest fraud type by value at risk in the SDI sector, reaching GH¢4.2 million, largely due to one institution reporting GH¢4.1 million.

The Bank of Ghana said the findings underscore the need for specialised deposit-taking institutions, particularly Rural and Community Banks, to strengthen internal controls, improve cash management procedures and enhance fraud detection mechanisms to reduce operational risks.

This is a strong regional banking angle because it focuses specifically on Rural and Community Banks, which are critical to financial inclusion in Ghana and serve a large number of customers in rural communities.