TheCable

Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) has begun the deduction of the sum of N50 for all international transactions as an electronic money transfer levy (ETML).

This was contained in a notice sent to customers on Friday.

GTBank said the transaction fee was due to a directive from the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to all deposit money banks.

The bank said the deduction would apply to all foreign currency transactions equivalent to or above N10,000.

The EMTL is a single, one-off charge of N50 on electronic receipt or transfer of money deposited in any commercial money bank or financial institution on any type of account on sums of N10,000 and above.

Revenue derived from the EMTL is shared among the three tiers of government by the federal accounts allocation committee (FAAC).

GTBank said: “You may recall that the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) mandated a charge of N50 as stamp duty on electronic deposits of N10,000 and above made to all Naira-denominated accounts.” 

“Please note that the stamp duty charge extends to foreign currency deposits equivalent to N10,000 and above.

“This means that when you receive foreign currency equivalent to N10,000 and above in your account, a fee of N50 in the value of the foreign currency received will be charged to your bank account.

“This is in line with the recent directive to Banks concerning the deduction of Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) on foreign currency inflows.”

Like GTBank, on December 22, 2023, Union Bank, also announced the implementation of N50 charge on international transactions.

Zenith Bank also informed one of its customers of the charge in a post on X on January 18, 2023.