In compliance with the instructions of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), fintech establishments have begun notifying their customers of plans to begin deduction of N50 Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) from every inflow of N10,000 and above received by their customers starting from September 9.
What is ETML?
The Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) is a one-off levy of N50 on electronic money transfers or receipts in Nigeria. It deals with all online transfers of funds in a Nigerian-licensed bank or financial institution, with a couple of exceptions: transactions less than ₦10,000, money paid into one’s account, and money transferred electronically between accounts of the same owner within the same bank.
The purpose of the ETML when it was added in the Finance Act of 2020 was to strengthen the growth of e-transfers in Nigeria. The returns from this are distributed among the three tiers of government, with the Federal government taking 15%, the state government taking 50% and the local government taking 35%.
The Compliance of the Fintech Companies
The ETML which was mostly a directive for commercial banks, which has now been taken down to the Fintechs; Opay, Palmpay, Moniepoint, and the like. And this has finally brought an end to the free banking services these Fintechs provided which was part of the reason they had a large customer base that comprised small and medium-scale business owners, students, and the downtrodden.
Moniepoint, sent out its memo on Saturday, to their customers. It read thus.
“ A N50 fee would be charged on inflows you receive of N10,000 and above from Monday, September 9, 2024. Your BRM is available to answer questions you might have.”
Opay specifically stated the involvement of the Federal government in the new turnout.
“Please be informed that starting September 9th, 2024, a one-time fee of N50 will be applied to electronic transfers of N10,000 and above paid into your personal or business account in compliance with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) regulations.
“It is important to note that OPay does not benefit from this charge in any way as it is directed entirely to the Federal Government,” the company wrote.
Final Thoughts
This new development most certainly contrasts badly with the initial purpose of the ETML. But perhaps, since the revenue goes directly to the government, it would be channeled into funding different projects in the different sectors of the country.
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