CBN orders banks to deduct 0.5% cybersecurity levy from every transaction
The Central Bank of Nigeria has ordered all commercial banks to deduct 0.5% cybersecurity levy on all transactions. The levy is to be remitted into the account of the National cybersecurity Fund and all banks are mandated to reconfigure their systems for the new development.
Commercial banks and merchant banks are given four weeks to complete their system's reconfiguration while other financial institutions are given 8 weeks. That means for every N1000 transfer, N5 would be deducted from the transactions going forward.
Any financial institution that fails to obey this would risk paying a fine of 2% of their annual revenue. The circular released by the apex bank reads, "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.' Deductions shall commence within two weeks from the date of this circular for all financial institutions and the monthly remittance of the levies collected in bulk to the NCF account domiciled at the CBN by the fifth business day of every subsequent month.”