All commercial, merchant, non-interest, payment service banks and other financial institutions, among others got a directive from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to activate the payment of 0.5 per cent on some electronic transactions.
Others who got the CBN circular yesterday, are mobile money operators and payment service providers.
The circular outlines the implementation guidance on the collection and remittance of the National Cyber-security Levy, following the enactment of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) (Amendment) Act 2024.
Referring to previous directives and public engagements by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), the circular stressed the necessity of compliance with the amended Cybercrimes Act.
Pursuant to 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 specified businesses is mandatory. This levy is to be remitted to the National Cyber-security Fund (NCF) for administration by the ONSA.
The circular reads: “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 per cent of all electronic transactions value by the business specified in the Second Schedule of the Act’, is to be remitted to the National Cyber-security Fund (NCF), which shall be administered by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA)”.
The key directives outlined in the circular include: the levy is to be applied at the point of electronic transfer origination, with financial institutions responsible for deduction and remittance. Deducted amounts shall be reflected in the customer’s account with the narration: “Cyber-security Levy.”
In addition, deductions are to commence within two weeks of the circular issuance, with monthly remittances to the NCF account by the fifth business day of every subsequent month.
The financial institutions are directed to complete system reconfigurations for timely submission of remittance files to the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) Plc. within specified timelines. Failure to remit the levy is deemed an offence, with penalties including fines of not less than 2 percent of the annual turnover of defaulting businesses.
Certain transactions were exempted from the levy to avoid multiple applications. The Schedule of Exemptions from Cyber-security Levy, outlined transactions exempted from the levy, including loan disbursements and repayments, salary payments, intra-account transfers, and transactions involving educational institutions particularly, educational Institutions transactions, including tuition payments and other transaction involving schools, universities, or other educational institutions.
Others include, Intra-bank transfers between customers of the same bank; Other Financial Institutions (OFIs) instructions to their correspondent banks; Inter-bank placements; banks’ transfers to CBN and vice-versa; inter-branch transfers within a bank; Cheques clearing and settlements; Letters of Credits (LCs).
Banks’ recapitalisation related funding – only bulk funds movement from collection accounts; savings and deposits including transactions involving long-term investments such as Treasury Bills, Bonds and Commercial Papers; government Social Welfare Programmes transactions e.g. Pension payments; non-profit and charitable transactions, including donations to registered non-profit organisations or charities and transactions involving bank’s internal accounts.
The apex bank listed the affected accounts as: suspense accounts, clearing accounts, profit and Ioss accounts, inter-branch accounts, reserve accounts, nostro and vostro accounts and escrow accounts.
The circular directed all institutions under CBN’s regulatory control to comply with the provisions of the Act and the circular.
Source: https://thenationonlineng.net/businesses-to-pay-0-5-cybersecurity-levy/