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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Monday, directed banks and other financial institutions to implement a 0.5 per cent cybersecurity levy on electronic transfers.
A circular signed by Chibuzor Efobi, Director of Payments System Management, and Haruna Mustafa, Director of Financial Policy and Regulation, said the policy would take effect in two weeks and charges would be described as “Cybersecurity Levy.”
According to the apex bank, the deduction and collection of the cybersecurity levy follows the enactment of the Cybercrime (prohibition, prevention etc) Amendment Act of 2024.
CBN said failure to remit the levy is an offence, which attracts a fine of not less than two per cent of the annual turnover of the defaulting business, amongst others.
However, the apex bank said there are categories of accounts that are exempted from the cybersecurity levy.
To avoid paying the cybersecurity levy, ensure that:
1. You are disbursing or repaying a loan from an account
2. Salary is being paid from or into the account
3. You are doing intra-account transfers within the same bank or between different banks for the same customer
4. You are doing intra-bank transfers between customers of the same bank
5. You are making payments (tuition fees and other transactions) into the accounts of educational institutions