Nume Ekeghe
In a bid to make the Nigerian payment system align with international best practice and drive its cashless policy, the Central Bank of Nigeria yesterday released an exposure draft on the Regulations on End to End Electronic Payment of Salaries, Pensions and Other Remittances, Suppliers and revenue collections in Nigeria.
The draft guideline posted on the central bank’s website yesterday, was signed by the Director Payments System Management Department, CBN.
The National Payment Systems Vision 2020 (PSV- 2020), aims at ensuring 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 is expected to reduce the time and costs of transactions, minimise leakages in revenue receipts and at the same time, provide reliable audit trails, thereby making the Nigerian payments system align with international best practices.
“Following a review of the initial guideline, the CBN hereby issues the exposure draft of the regulation on end-to-end electronic payment of salaries, pensions & other remittances, suppliers and revenue collection in Nigeria (Revised, 2018) for the review and feedback of banks and other financial institutions in Nigeria.
“Further to the implementation of the guideline on end- to-end electronic payment of salaries, pensions, suppliers and taxes by all public and private sector organisations as directed in the bank guidelines referenced (CBN/BPS/PSV/GEN/014/05), deposit money banks are to dishonour payment instructions for all forms of salaries, pensions, suppliers and taxes not transmitted on a bank approved straight through electronic payment and collection platform issued by organisations with more than 20 employees.
“This means payment instructions and associated schedules are no longer to be transmitted to DMBs through unsecured channels, such as paper-based mandates, flash drives, compact discs (CD), email attachments, etc. by qualifying public and private sector organisations. Enforcement by the Bank shall be effective from the date of the issuance of this regulation.
“The guideline applies to all CBN regulated entities operating in Nigeria and mandates adoption, implementation and compliance with the directives on end-to-end electronic payments of all forms of salaries, pensions, suppliers, taxes.”
