The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued a directive to banks and other financial institutions to implement a 0.5 percent cybersecurity levy on electronic transfers. This directive, outlined in a circular signed by Chibuzor Efobi, Director of Payments System Management, and Haruna Mustafa, Director of Financial Policy and Regulation, is set to take effect within two weeks.
According to the circular, the levy, described as ‘Cybersecurity Levy,’ is in accordance with the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Amendment Act of 2024. The Act stipulates that 0.5% of the value of all electronic transactions made by specified businesses be remitted to the National Cybersecurity Fund (NCF), to be administered by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
The CBN further mandates that deductions from electronic transactions commence within two weeks from the circular’s issuance date. Financial institutions are required to remit the levies collected to the NCF account, domiciled at the CBN, by the 5th business day of each subsequent month.
Non-compliance with the levy remittance attracts penalties, including fines of not less than 2 percent of the defaulting business’s annual turnover, among other sanctions.
Simultaneously, banks had previously announced the reintroduction of a 2 percent charge on deposits above N500,000.
The CBN concludes by directing all institutions under its regulatory purview to adhere to the provisions of the Act and the circular.
