In a new circular dated May 6, 2024, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) enacted a new transaction levy tagged “Cybersecurity Levy” on all electronic transactions in all banks, commercial and other financial institutions. According to the circular, “Following the enactment of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) (amendment) Act 2024 and under 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).”
The levy shall be deducted from the source of the transaction and immediately commence within two (2) weeks from the date the circular is released for commercial banks and within eight (8) weeks for other financial institutions. This is added to the already existing transaction charges such as stamp duty, electronic levy and SMS charge.
