The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has issued an order to all banks operating within the country to impose a cybersecurity levy on transactions.
In a circular released on Monday, May, the apex bank stated that the implementation of the levy would begin two weeks from the date of the circular.
The circular was directed to all commercial, merchant, non-interest, and payment service banks.
The circular stated it was a follow-up on an earlier letter dated June 25, 2018 (Ref: BPS/DIR/GEN/CIR/05/008) and October 5, 2018 (Ref: BSD/DIR/GEN/LAB/11/023), respectively, on compliance with the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) Act 2015.
Here are five charges Nigerians pay for electronic transactions:
Cybersecurity levy (0.5% on every transaction):
N5 is charged on the transaction of N1,000
N50 is charged on the transaction of N10,000
N500 is charged on the transaction of N100,000
N5,000 is charged on the transaction of N1,000,000
N50,000 is charged on the transaction of N10,000,000
Transfer fee
N10 is being charged on the transaction below N5,000
N25 is being charged on the transaction between 5,001 and N50,000
N50 is being charged on transactions above N50,000
Stamp duties
N50 is being charged on transactions between N10,000 and N10,000,000
Short Messaging Service (SMS)
N4 is being charged on each electronic transfer notification
Note: This is only applicable to customers on eligible electronic transactions. Those who opt for e-mailing services are not charged the same.
Value Added Tax (VAT)
N0.75 is being charged on the N10 transfer fee
N1.875 is being charged on the N25 transfer fee
N3.75 is being charged on the N50 transfer fee.
