The Central bank of Nigeria (CBN) has mandated deposit money banks in the country to dishonour instructions from public and private sectors on salaries, pensions, suppliers and taxes not transmitted on a CBN approved straight-through electronic payment and collection platform.
This was contained in the revised 2019 regulation on electronic payments and collections for public and private sectors in Nigeria released by the apex bank yesterday.
The new guidelines stated that, “ 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 CBN Guidelines referenced [CBN/BPS/PSV/GEN/014/05], DMBs are to dishonour payment instructions for all forms of salaries, pensions, suppliers and taxes not transmitted on a CBN 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 (CDs), email attachments, etc. by qualifying public and private sector organisations.”
The regulation 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.