ABUJA – The deposit money banks in Nigeria will now start charging 0.5% cybersecurity levy on transactions, amid the ongoing hardship ravaging Nigeria, the Central Bank of Nigeria has said.
The apex bank said that the implementation of the levy would start two weeks from the date of the circular.
This was contained in a circular dated May 6, 2024 by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to all commercial, merchant, non-interest and payment service banks as well as mobile money operators and payment service providers.
“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 value by the business specified in the Second Schedule of the Act’, is to be remitted to the National Cybersecurity Fund (NCF), which shall be administered by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA),” the circular partly read.
“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’.”
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— Central Bank of Nigeria (@cenbank) May 6, 2024