CBN Removes Cybersecurity Levy Circular Following Its Suspension By Federal Government.

The disputed 0.5% cybersecurity fee that banks were ordered to impose on electronic transactions has been removed from the Central Bank of Nigeria's (CBN) earlier circular. 

On May 6, the central bank sent a circular to all commercial, merchant, non-interest, and payment service banks, as well as to mobile money operators and payment service providers, instructing them to deduct the levy and send it to the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), which oversees the National Cybersecurity Fund (NCF).

The news caused a furor, with pressure groups criticizing the timing of the levy's adoption amid the cost of living issue made worse by growing inflation and labor unions vowing to take legal action. Information Minister Mohammed Idris subsequently declared that the controversial cybersecurity levy had been suspended by the Federal Government.

The top bank referenced to the previous May 6, 2024 circular in a new circular dated May 17, 2024, informing financial institutions that the first circular about the cybersecurity levy's implementation "is hereby withdrawn."

Chibuzo Efobi, the director of the CBN's Payments System Management Department, and Haruna Mustafa, the director of the Financial Policy and Regulation Department, co-signed the most recent circular on the subject.