The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has instructed deposit money banks across the country to begin charging a 0.5% cybersecurity levy on transactions.
The levy shall be applied at the point of electronic transfer origination, then deducted and remitted by the financial institution. The deducted amount shall be reflected in the customer’s account with the narration, ‘Cybersecurity Levy’.”
This directive, outlined in a circular dated May 6, 2024, applies to all commercial, merchant, non-interest, and payment service banks, as well as mobile money operators and payment service providers.
CBN exempted loan disbursements and repayments, salary payments, intra-account transfers within the same bank or between different banks for the same customer, and inter-branch transfers within a bank.
The apex bank stated that the levy’s implementation would commence two weeks from the date of the circular, with deductions to be remitted to the National Cybersecurity Fund (NCF), administered by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
It also stated that deductions shall commence within two weeks from the date of this circular for all financial institutions and the monthly remittance of the levies collected in bulk to the NCF account domiciled at the CBN by the fifth business day of every subsequent month.
In addition to the cybersecurity levy, the CBN recently halted fintech firms like Opay and Palmpay from onboarding new customers and directed banks to deduct a 0.375 per cent stamp duty charge on all mortgaged-backed loans and bonds.
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