The Central Bank of Nigeria on Monday directed all banks to commence charging a 0.5 percent cybersecurity levy on all electronic transactions within the country.
The apex bank recently issued a directive, outlined in a circular signed by Chibuzo Efobi, Director of the Payments System Management Department, and Haruna Mustafa, Director of the Financial Policy and Regulation Department.
The circular, obtained by Gallerypedia Info, targets all segments of the banking sector, including commercial, merchant, non-interest, and payment service banks.
Effective two weeks after Monday, May 6, 2024, the implementation of a new cybersecurity levy will commence.
This levy is to be applied at the initiation point of electronic transfers, with subsequent deductions and remittances facilitated by the respective financial institutions. Customers will notice this deduction in their accounts, annotated as the “Cybersecurity Levy,” as detailed in the circular.
However, amidst this levy, the CBN has outlined exemptions for specific banking transactions. Punch Online presents a comprehensive breakdown of the 16 exempted transactions:
- Loan disbursements and repayments
- Salary payments
- Intra-account transfers within the same bank or between different banks for the same customer
- Intra-bank transfers between customers of the same bank
- Other Financial Institutions instructions to their correspondent banks
- Interbank placements
- Banks’ transfers to CBN and vice-versa
- Inter-branch transfers within a bank
- Cheque clearing and settlements
- Letters of Credit
- Banks’ recapitalization-related funding: only bulk funds move from collection accounts
- Savings and deposits, including transactions involving long-term investments such as Treasury Bills, Bonds, and Commercial Papers.
- Government Social Welfare Program transactions, e.g. Pension payments
- Non-profit and charitable transactions, including donations to registered non-profit organizations or charities
- Educational institutions’ transactions, including tuition payments and other transactions involving schools, universities, or other educational institutions
- Transactions involving the bank’s internal accounts, such as suspense accounts, clearing accounts, profit and loss accounts, inter-branch accounts, reserve accounts, nostro and vostro accounts, and escrow accounts.
This delineation aims to provide clarity and ensure the smooth operation of essential financial activities while fortifying cybersecurity measures within the banking sector.
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