Loans, Salaries: List of All Transactions Exempted from Cybersecurity Levy

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has introduced a cybersecurity levy on electronic transactions to bolster the nation’s cyber defenses.

However, to alleviate the impact on certain transactions, the CBN has listed 16 exemptions.

Okay.ng provides a detailed breakdown of these exemptions and answers the most asked questions in a structured format for SEO purposes.

What is the Cybersecurity Levy?

• Definition: A 0.5% levy imposed on electronic transactions to fund cybersecurity initiatives.

Who is Exempt from the Levy?

• Exempt Transactions: Certain transactions are exempt to prevent undue burden on specific sectors and activities.

Detailed List of Exempt Transactions

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 (OFIs) instructions to their correspondent banks
6. Interbank placements
7. Banks’ transfers to CBN and vice-versa
8. Inter-branch transfers within a bank
9. Cheques clearing and settlements
10. Letters of credits (LCs)
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.