The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has mandated all banks to levy a 0.5 per cent cybersecurity charge on all electronic transactions within the country. The directive, contained in a circular signed by Chibuzo Efobi and Haruna Mustafa, Directors of Payments System Management Department and Financial Policy and Regulation Department respectively, is set to take effect two weeks from Monday, May 6, 2024.
However, not all banking transactions will be subject to this levy. Here is the full list of the 16 transactions exempted from the CBN’s new cybersecurity levy:
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 non-profit organisations 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.
This exemption list aims to provide clarity on the specific transactions that will not be subject to the new cybersecurity levy. It is intended to ensure that essential financial activities remain unaffected while enhancing cybersecurity measures across electronic transactions in Nigeria.
Ajisafe Olayiwola, a multimedia journalist and digital copy editor with over four years of experience, contributed to this report.
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