The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Tuesday warned Chief Executive Officers of commercial banks in the country against breaching its e-payment reporting rules, including submitting/reporting false or inaccurate reports.
Besides, the erring banks will get a penalty of N250, 000. Lenders that fail to ensure that third party end-to-end e-payment solution used by the bank/financial service provider is approved by CBN will also get N2.5 million fine and the managing director issued a warning letter.
The threat was contained in a draft guideline on end-to-end electronic payment of salaries, pensions, suppliers and taxes released yesterday by the apex bank.
The draft guideline, signed by CBN Director, Payments System Management Department, Sam Okojere, said the banks were expected to promote the adoption of end-to-end electronic payments by all stakeholders covered by this regulation.
The guideline is in exercise of CBN’s powers, as provided in the CBN Act, 2007, Section 47, sub section 2(2d), hereby issues the following Regulation on the end-to-end electronic Payment of Salaries, Pensions & other Remittances, Suppliers and Revenue Collections in Nigeria.
“They are also to provide payers and beneficiaries with e-payment enabled bank accounts with Deposit Money Banks, Other Financial Institutions or any other approved channel for receiving payments such as mobile money/electronic wallet, subject to the Bank’s approved Know Your Customer (KYC) limits,” the guideline read.
The banks are also to process electronic payment instructions in accordance with subsisting payments system and clearing system rules and publish customer service/ contact centres details via multiple media channels and maintain customer service contact centres, to promptly attend to all electronic payment enquiries and challenges within stipulated timelines; and report of customer complaints, indicating resolution status.
They are also to make available any or combination of the following data sets, as may be applicable, along with the mandatory returns to the CBN, on a monthly basis or as may be otherwise specified number of salary/pension/tax paying client organisations, salaries/pension/tax payment transactions count, salaries/pension/suppliers/tax payment transactions value per payment method given.
It said that in the event of duplicated/excess payments, should establish a recovery process engaging both Payers and Beneficiaries in line with existing Regulation on Operation of Electronic Payment Channels in the county.
The objective of the end-to-end electronic payment of salaries, pensions, suppliers and taxes initiative, the apex bank said, is fully aligned with the core objectives of the National Payment Systems Vision 2020 (PSV2020), which is 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 making the Nigerian payments system align with international best practices
