The Central Bank of Nigeria says it will begin collecting a 0.005% levy on all electronic transactions conducted by banks and financial institutions.
This was revealed in the bank’s monetary, credit, foreign trade, and exchange policy guidelines for the fiscal years 2024-2025, published in September 2024.
“The CBN shall continue to enforce the payment of the mandatory levy of 0.005 per cent on all electronic transactions by banks and other financial institutions, in accordance with the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015,” it said.
The levy, enacted under the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) (Amendment) Act 2024, applies to all electronic transactions and is intended to fund the National Cybersecurity Fund managed by the Office of the National Security Adviser.
This comes after a proposal earlier in 2024 to introduce the levy at 0.5% was met with resistance from the public.
REGULATION | Central Bank of Nigeria Withdraws Controversial Cybersecurity Levy on Eletronic Transactions – https://t.co/tfeGwzjcWH https://t.co/fAWx5jjwEK pic.twitter.com/tI3fwfJWRV
— CalCISO (@GetCalCISO) May 23, 2024
In a circular dated May 6 2024, addressed to all deposit money banks, mobile money operators, and payment service providers, CBN directed the deduction of the levy to be remitted to the National Cybersecurity Fund (NCF), administered by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
Although President Bola Tinubu and the House of Representatives initially opposed the policy, calling for its suspension and review, the CBN has now reintroduced the levy at 100 times less the initial value.
The fee will be applied to all electronic transactions carried out by commercial, merchant, non-interest, and payment service banks, and is pencilled to cover cybersecurity.
However, some transactions are exempt from the levy. These include:
- Wage payments
- Loan disbursements and repayments
- Transfers between accounts within the same bank or across banks for the same client
- Intra-bank transfers
- Cheque clearing and settlement
- Letters of Credit, and
- Transactions between banks and the CBN
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