Nigerians are expressing their views on social media regarding the recent directive from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) instructing banks to impose a 0.5% cybersecurity levy on transactions.

According to the CBN, these deductions will be accumulated and deposited into the Cybersecurity Fund managed by the CBN.

The directive, outlined in a circular dated May 6, 2024, applies to all commercial, merchant, non-interest, and payment service banks, as well as mobile money operators and payment service providers, and will take effect in two weeks. Certain transactions, such as loan disbursements and repayments, salary payments, intra-account transfers within the same bank or between different banks for the same customer, intra-bank transfers between customers of the same bank, inter-branch transfers within a bank, cheque clearing and settlements, Letters of Credits, recapitalisation-related funding, bulk funds movement from collection accounts, savings and deposits, and transactions involving long-term investments, are exempt from this levy.

Nigerians have reacted to this development on social media, with many expressing disappointment with the new directive.