CBN Imposes 0.5% Cybersecurity Levy on All Transactions

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has directed banks to impose a 0.5% cybersecurity levy on all transactions.

In a letter signed by Mr Chibuzo Efobi, the Director of Payment System in the Management Department and Haruna B Mustafa, the Director of the Financial Policy and Regulation Department on May 6 stated that the levy shall be drawn at the point of electronic transfer and then remitted to the financial institution.

It further stated that the amount deducted shall be reflected in the customer’s account with the narration ‘cybersecurity levy’.

The letter made it clear that the actions on this directive shall commence two weeks from the date of the circular for all financial institutions and the monthly remittance shall be collected in bulk to the NCF account domiciled on CBN by the 5th business day of every subsequent month.

It also warned that the penalty of a conviction or fine of not less than 2% of the annual turnover awaits businesses which default.

Recall that banks already charge ATM Maintenance Fee, VAT, Text Message Charge and Stamp Duty Charge at every transaction.