What a transfer should cost the user

The short answer

A bank transfer from a Nigerian account now carries up to four charges. Two depend on the amount, and two are government taxes:

So the ₦50,000 line matters for the bank charge (₦10 vs ₦50), and the ₦10,000 line matters for stamp duty.

Try an amount

Type what the user wants to send. This uses the CBN maximums and the rules below. The real provider fee should come from Parallex's rate card for our account.

The charges, band by band

Charge Up to ₦5,000 ₦5,001 – ₦9,999 ₦10,000 – ₦50,000 Above ₦50,000 Goes to
Bank transfer chargeCBN maximum, from 1 May 2026 ₦0₦10₦10₦50 Provider (Parallex)
Platform feeWe set this. ₦2 is Valuchii's example. ₦2₦2₦2₦2 HustlePay
VAT 7.5%On the two fees above ₦0.15₦0.90₦0.90₦3.90 Government (NRS)
Stamp dutySender pays, from 1 Jan 2026 ₦0₦0₦50₦50 Government (NRS)
User pays on top ₦2.15₦12.90₦62.90₦105.90

Edges: exactly ₦5,000 is free. Exactly ₦10,000 pays stamp duty. Exactly ₦50,000 is still in the ₦10 band.

Confirm before we build on it: the bank charge bands. The CBN published a draft on 21 April 2026 and several outlets report the revised guide took effect on 1 May 2026 with the bands above. But one August 2026 report still quotes the old 2020 bands (₦10 / ₦25 / ₦50), and Stanbic IBTC's 2026 price list also shows the old bands. Ask Parallex which bands they apply to our account.

What each rule says

RuleWhat it saysStatus
CBN Guide to Charges Sets the most a bank may charge for an electronic transfer. Revised guide replaces the 2020 one. Banks must show the fee before the customer confirms. Confirm bands
Stamp duty (was EMTL) ₦50 on electronic transfers of ₦10,000 and above, now charged to the sender. It covers fintech wallets too (OPay, PalmPay and Moniepoint all apply it). Exempt: under ₦10,000, salary payments, and moving money between your own accounts. In force since 1 Jan 2026
VAT on e-banking fees 7.5% on transfer, USSD and similar service fees. It is on the fee only, not the amount sent. A ₦10 fee becomes ₦10.75. In force since 19 Jan 2026

How we could build it

This matches what Valuchii asked for: the app shows one transfer charge, and the backend knows every part of it, so we can reconcile the provider's fees.

Backend (Karonwi)

The fee quote already exists (GET wallet/transfers/fee-quote and GET bills/fee-quote, in backend PR 101). Today it returns only one fee. Return the parts too:

{
  "amount": 20000,
  "providerFee": 10,     // Parallex or Wema
  "provider": "Parallex",
  "platformFee": 2,
  "vat": 0.90,
  "stampDuty": 50,
  "fee": 12.90,          // shown as Transfer charge
  "totalAmount": 20062.90
}

Save each part against the transaction when it goes through, so the provider fee can be matched against Parallex and Wema statements.

App (Ted)

Every payment screen already asks the fee quote for the amount the user types, before they enter their PIN. Once the quote returns the parts, the app shows:

  • Transfer charge: provider fee + platform fee + VAT.
  • Stamp duty: only when it applies.
  • Total to be debited.

Suggestion: show stamp duty as its own line. It is a government tax, not our income, and users already see it that way in their bank apps. If we prefer a single line, the app can add it into the transfer charge instead.

Questions to settle

  1. Parallex's real rate. What do they charge us per transfer, and which CBN bands do they follow? That is our provider fee.
  2. Who deducts stamp duty. Does Parallex take it from the wallet automatically, or must we collect it and pay it to NRS ourselves?
  3. Wallet to wallet. Transfers between two HustlePay users are inside one bank but between different people, so stamp duty most likely applies. Confirm.
  4. Bill payments. The CBN transfer bands are for bank transfers, not bills. The provider fee on bills is whatever Wema charges us per biller. Does stamp duty apply to bill payments? Ask Wema and our accountant.
  5. VAT on our platform fee. If HustlePay is VAT-registered, our own fee carries 7.5% VAT too. Confirm with our accountant.
  6. Small transfers. Transfers up to ₦5,000 are free at the bank. Do we still charge the platform fee on them?
  7. One line or two. Stamp duty on its own line, or inside the transfer charge?

Sources