May 18, (THEWILL) – The Electric Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) component of the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) rose by N53.71 billion in April 2025 hitting N119.55 billion.
This constitutes an 81.57 percent increase year-to-date compared to a total of N65.84 billion generated in the first four months of 2024, according to data by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The EMTL is levied on transactions conducted via platforms such as mobile money, internet banking, and other electronic payment methods.
It applies to all electronic transfers of funds placed in a Nigerian-licensed bank or financial institution. The Levy is imposed as a singular and one-off charge of ₦50 on electronic transfers or electronic receipts of money in the sum of ₦10,000 or more. Transfers under ₦10,000 and between accounts within the same financial institution are outside of the scope of EMTL.
The federal government in August 2024 expanded the scope of the EMTL to include fintech companies. This move aims to capture revenue from the booming fintech sector, which has seen significant growth in transaction values.
Previously, the EMTL primarily targeted traditional banking institutions. The inclusion of fintechs, which have seen a remarkable 2,507.94% increase in transaction values since 2020, is part of the government’s strategy to regulate and monetize this growing sector.
The process of collecting and remitting the Levy involves financial institutions collecting the Levy on each qualifying electronic transfer and remission is expected to be made to the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) within the timeframe stipulated.
The Finance Act, 2022 stipulates that revenue accruing by the operation of EMTL shall be distributed to the three tiers of government on the basis of derivation with the federal government receiving 15 percent, states 50 percent and the local governments 35 percent of the EMTL realised.
THEWILL reports that the system has pushed the banks into stiff competition as their e-revenue continues to surge with the Tier-1 banks topping the game.
The e-banking income includes revenue from electronic platforms, such as mobile applications, USSD channels, Internet banking, ATM, PoS as well as other debit and credit card transactions.
Recently, the banks embarked on systems upgrade to expand their e-banking channels for maximum performance and enhanced revenue generation, which have created a stiff competition among them.
Electronic payment transactions in Nigeria rose to N1.07 quadrillion in 2024, reaching an all-time high and the first time to hit the quadrillion mark.
In dollar terms, this is about $702.6 billion based on the closing exchange rate of N1,535/$1 on December 31, 2024.
According to the data released by the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), the value recorded on the NIBSS Instant Payment (NIP) represents a 79.6% increase over N600 trillion recorded in 2023.
Sam Diala is a Bloomberg Certified Financial Journalist with over a decade of experience in reporting Business and Economy. He is Business Editor at THEWILL Newspaper, and believes that work, not wishes, creates wealth.
