The Central Bank of Nigeria has mandated bank customers to start paying a cybersecurity levy on most of their electronic transactions, as stated in the outlawed Cybercrime Act 2015.

A directive issued by the apex bank has mandated all financial institutions in the country to implement a 0.5 percent deduction on all relevant transactions.

Once deducted as instructed, the money will be remitted into the National Cybersecurity Fund (NCF), which will be under the management of the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).

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Only 16 categories of transactions, including salaries, loans, cheques, and clearing and settlements, are exempted from this latest directive. This adds to the list of existing charges, such as stamp duty, card maintenance and cash deposit charges customers have been paying over the years.

The CBN circular reads in part.

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: BPS/DIR/GEN/CIR/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”.

“Deductions shall commence within two (2) 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 5th business day of every subsequent month.

“System reconfigurations towards ensuring complete and timely submission of remittance files to the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBBS) Plc shall be completed as follows:

“Within four (4) weeks of this circular – commercial, merchant, Non-Interest and Payment Service Banks, and Mobile Money Operators.

“Within eight (8) weeks of this circular – all Other Financial Institutions (Microfinance banks, Primary Mortgage banks, Development Finance Institutions).

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“Exemptions – To avoid multiple application of the levy on the same transaction/transfer, Appendix 1 (attached) captures transactions currently deemed eligible and are exempted from the application of the levy.

“Penalties for non-compliance – Section 44 (8) of the Act prescribes that failure to remit the levy is an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of not less than 2% of the annual turnover of the defaulting business, amongst others.