Deposit Money Banks (DBMs), Other Financial Institutions (OFIs) and Mobile Money Operators (MMOs) will have to pay a penalty of N1,000 per transaction for no return of un-applied funds to payer’s account within 24 hours, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said on Tuesday.
The CBN on Tuesday issued the regulation on electronic payments and collections for public and private sectors in Nigeria.
The regulation is a is a revision of the Guidelines on Electronic Payment of Salaries, Pensions, Suppliers and Taxes in Nigeria (2014), and is intended to guide the end-to-end electronic payment of salaries, pensions and other remittances, suppliers and revenue collections in Nigeria.
Part of the sanctions to be meted on these institutions is that funds are be returned at the prevailing monetary policy rate (MPR) for the period and report of infraction in annual report.
These financial institutions are to ensure consummation of all electronic payments within timelines stipulated by the CBN under extant regulations or guidelines on the electronic payment channel utilised.
Also, the regulatory guidelines stipulate a N5,000 penalty for each day for which report is not provided to the CBN. The DMBs, OFIs and the MMOs are expected to Provide quarterly report on end-to-end e-payment of salaries, pensions, suppliers & taxes to the CBN by the stipulated deadlines.
According to the guidelines these institutions are expected to ensure 3rd party end-to�end e payment solution used by the bank/financial service provider is approved by CBN.
Consequently, the CBN said it would issue warning letter to the managing director, penalty of N2 million for DMB and N1 million for OFIs on every repeated occurrence.
More so, the Payments Systems Service Providers (PSSP) are to pay a penalty of N1,000 transaction over Non completion of transactions within stipulated timelines due to challenges with solution provider’s platform or operational inefficiency.
The PSSPs are to ensure consummation of all electronic payments within timelines stipulated by the CBN under extant regulations or guidelines on the electronic payment channel are utilised.
The objective of the Regulation is to fully align with the core objectives of the
National Payments System Vision 2020 (PSV2020) to ensure the availability of safe, effective and efficient mechanisms for conveniently making and receiving all types of payments from any location and at any time, through multiple electronic channels.
This will reduce the time and costs of transactions, minimise leakages in revenue receipts and at the same time provide reliable audit trails, thereby ensuring that the Nigerian Payments System aligns with international best practices.
Hope Moses-Ashike
