The Central Bank of Nigeria, on Monday, directed banks and other financial institutions to start charging a cybersecurity levy on all banking transactions.
The circular read in part, “Following the enactment of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) (Amendment) Act 2024 and pursuant to the provision of Section 44 (2)(a) of the Act, ‘a levy of 0.5% (0.005) equivalent to a half percent of all electronic transactions valued by the business specified in the Second Schedule of the Act,’ is to be remitted to the National Cybersecurity Fund, which shall be administered by the Office of the National Security Adviser.”
Based on the CBN circular, here are five things Nigerians should know about the cybersecurity levy they will be paying:
- The Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) (Amendment) Act 2024 mandates a new levy of 0.5%, equivalent to half a percent, on electronic transactions.
- The levy is to be paid by the initiator of the electronic transaction and will be deducted by the financial institution. The deducted amount will be displayed in the customer’s account with the description “Cybersecurity Levy.”
- Financial institutions are responsible for deducting the levy and forwarding it to the National Cybersecurity Fund, managed by the Office of the National Security Adviser.
- Deductions are set to commence within two weeks of the circular date, May 6. Financial institutions are required to remit the accumulated levies in bulk to the NCF account held at the CBN on a monthly basis by the fifth business day of the subsequent month.
- Financial institutions are allotted deadlines for updating their systems to accommodate levy deductions and remittances. Failure to remit the levy may incur penalties, including fines of up to 2% of the financial institution’s annual turnover.
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