The Central Bank of Nigeria has directed banks to implement a 0.5% cybersecurity levy on transactions.
A notice issued by the central bank on Monday revealed that the levy’s enforcement is scheduled to commence in a fortnight from today.
The notice included all commercial banks, merchant banks, non-interest banks, and payment service banks, among others.
“The earlier Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) circular and Letter to all Banks dated June 25, 2018 (Ref: BPS/DIR/GEN/CIR/05/008) and October 5, 2018 (Ref: BSD/DIR/GEN/LAB/11/023) respectively on compliance with the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) Act 2015 refer. The recent public engagements by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) on the above subject, also refers.
“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).
“Accordingly, all Banks, Other Financial Institutions and Payments Service Providers are hereby required to implement the above provision of the Act as follows:
“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”.
