CBN extends suspension of processing fees payment on cash deposits

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has extended the suspension of processing fees on deposits within some thresholds.

This is according to a statement by Adetona Adedeji, CBN’s acting Director, Banking Supervision Department, on Wednesday in Abuja.

Adedeji said that the suspension of two per cent and three per cent previously charged on cash deposits above N500,000 for individuals and N3 million for corporates was now extended to Sept. 30.

“Consequently, all financial institutions regulated by the CBN should continue to accept all cash deposits from the public without charges until Sept. 30,” he said.

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The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the suspension of charges on cash deposits above those thresholds was initially effected by the apex bank on Dec. 11, 2023.

The extension is coming on the heels of widespread condemnation of the new cybersecurity levy of 0.5 per cent on electronic transactions recently announced by the CBN.

The apex bank had announced that the implementation of the levy would start two weeks from May 6.

It said 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, ‘Cybersecurity Levy,” it said.

However, some 16 banking transactions were exempted from the new cybersecurity levy.

They include loan disbursements and repayments, salary payments, intra-account transfers within the same bank or between different banks for the same customer, and intra-bank transfers between customers of the same bank among others.

By the calculations of the new levy, N5 will be charged on a transaction of N1,000, while N50 will be charged on a transaction of N10,000.

Others are N500 charge on a transaction of N100,000, N5,000 charge on a transaction of N1,000,000, and N50,000 charge on a transaction of N10,000,000.

The cybersecurity levy will now be added to the already existing bank charges like transfer fees, stamp duty, charges on SMS, and VAT.
(NAN)