CBN Announces Cybersecurity Levy on Electronic Transactions

AFTER the announcement of the implementation of the cybersecurity levy on transactions, the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, on Monday, May 6, listed transactions granted exemption from the levy.

The bank had informed all banks to take 0.5 percent more from people's electronic payments within Nigeria, starting two weeks from May 6.

“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,” CBN said.

Exemptions from the Cybersecurity Levy

The directive and the list of exemptions were 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.

Below is the list of the exempted banking transactions:

1. Loan disbursements and repayments

2. Salary payments

3. Intra-account transfers within the same bank or between different banks for the same customer

4. Intra-bank transfers between customers of the same bank

5. Other Financial Institutions instructions to their correspondent banks

6. Interbank placements

7. Banks' transfers to CBN and vice-versa

8. Inter-branch transfers within a bank

9. Cheque clearing and settlements

10. Letters of Credits

11. Banks' recapitalisation-related funding - only bulk funds movement from collection accounts

12. Savings and deposits, including transactions involving long-term investments such as Treasury Bills, Bonds, and Commercial Papers.

13. Government Social Welfare Programmes transactions e.g. Pension payments

14. Non-profit and charitable transactions, including donations to registered profit organizations or charities

15. Educational institutions' transactions, including tuition payments and other transactions involving schools, universities, or other educational institutions

16. Transactions involving 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.