Digital channels now carry the largest share of retail transactions in many African markets, and new products reach customers faster than control frameworks can adapt. Attackers exploit identity weaknesses, insiders collude with agents, third-party platforms fail, and regulators sharpen expectations on resilience and customer protection. Institutions that treat fintech as a purely commercial opportunity discover the risks only after losses occur.

This advanced programme assumes working knowledge of banking or payments and moves quickly into risk practice. Participants dissect the value chain of a mobile money transfer, a card payment, an instant bank transfer and a digital loan, locating weak points at each step. They then apply risk assessment methods, design preventive and detective controls, and test them against realistic failure scenarios. Governance questions receive equal weight: three lines of defence, partner oversight, regulatory engagement and board reporting.

Delivery is case driven. Participants analyse fraud typologies, outage post-mortems and partnership structures, and complete a risk assessment of a digital product they select. By the final session they hold a prioritised control plan, a set of key risk indicators and a board-ready summary of the exposures that matter most for their own institution.

After the programme, participants will be able to:

• Map end-to-end flows for mobile money, card, instant payment and digital lending products.
• Assess fraud, cyber, operational, liquidity and settlement risks in digital financial services.
• Design authentication, monitoring and reconciliation controls for payment channels.
• Evaluate agent, merchant and third-party fintech partner risk.
• Apply AML and CFT controls to digital onboarding and transaction monitoring.
• Assess model risk and fairness in algorithmic credit decisions.
• Stress test digital portfolios and define key risk indicators.
• Prepare board and regulator reports on fintech risk exposure.

The programme is intended for experienced professionals in banking, payments and technology, including:

• Risk managers and operational risk officers
• Compliance, AML and fraud officers
• Internal auditors and information systems auditors
• Product and digital channel managers
• Payment service provider and mobile money operations leaders
• Central bank and financial regulator supervisors
• Microfinance and SACCO digital transformation leads
• Fintech founders, investors and partnership managers

Participants will leave with:

• A risk map of a digital payment or lending product from onboarding to settlement.
• A fraud typology library with matching preventive and detective controls.
• A third-party fintech due diligence checklist.
• A set of key risk indicators and escalation thresholds.
• A stress test outline for a digital portfolio.
• A board-style risk report on a chosen fintech product.

Aimed at experienced practitioners, the programme uses:

• Product teardowns that trace money and data through each step of a digital service
• Fraud and outage case files for root cause analysis
• Rule-design and stress-testing workshops using sample transaction data
• Simulated risk committee debates on launching or pausing a product
• Individual capstone assessments with facilitator feedback

Participants who attend all sessions and present the capstone assessment receive a CPD-accredited Certificate of Completion issued by Vision Reach Global Consultancy.