The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has stated that it will maintain the contentious cybercrime levy of 0.005 per cent on all electronic transactions in its updated guidelines for the 2024-2025 fiscal year.
The CBN noted that the implementation of the levy aligns with the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act of 2015, and made it compulsory for banks and Payment Service Providers to comply with the guidelines for the risk-based cybersecurity framework and these decisions were included in the CBN’s Monetary, Credit, Foreign Trade, and Exchange Policy Guidelines for the 2024-2025 fiscal years.
It also clarified that the deducted funds are to be sent to the National Cybersecurity Fund (NCF), which will be managed by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA).
The revenue from this levy will go to a cybersecurity fund to help protect Nigeria’s banking system from increasing cyberattack threats and used to strengthen the nation’s capabilities in cyber intelligence, investigation and the prevention of cybercrimes.
According to the guideline released by CBN specific transactions will be exempted from the levy. These include wage payments, loan disbursements and repayments, and transfers between the same bank accounts or banks for the same client. The exemptions also extend to intra-bank transfers, cheque clearing and settlement, Letters of Credit, and transactions between banks and the CBN.
