However, the apex bank exempted 16 banking deals from the just released cybersecurity levy.
In a circular signed by Efobi Chibuzo, the Director, Payments System Management Department and Haruna Mustafa, the Director, Financial Policy and Regulation Department, the CBN stated that the cybersecurity levy would become effective from May 6, 2024.
The circular directed to all commercial, merchant, non-interest, and payment service banks, among others; to start the implementation of the cybersecurity charges after two weeks of the information.
The circular added: “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.”
The 16 banking transactions exempted from the new cybersecurity levy are listed below:
1. Loan disbursements and repayments
2. Salary payments
3. Intra-account transfers within the same bank or between different banks for the same customer
4. Intra-bank transfers between customers of the same bank
5. Other Financial Institutions instructions to their correspondent banks
6. Interbank placements,
7. Banks’ transfers to CBN and vice-versa
8. Inter-branch transfers within a bank
9. Cheque clearing and settlements
10. Letters of Credits
11. Banks’ recapitalisation-related funding – only bulk funds movement from collection accounts
12. Savings and deposits, including transactions involving long-term investments such as Treasury Bills, Bonds, and Commercial Papers
13. Government Social Welfare Programmes transactions e.g. Pension payments
14. Non-profit and charitable transactions, including donations to registered non-profit organisations or charities
15. Educational institutions’ transactions, including tuition payments and other transactions involving schools, universities, or other educational institutions
16. Transactions involving bank’s internal accounts such as suspense accounts, clearing accounts, profit and loss accounts, inter-branch accounts, reserve accounts, nostro and vostro accounts, and escrow accounts.