Guide
Nigerian bank charges on a statement
A Nigerian statement has many small debits that are not purchases. Some are taxes, some are fees for a service, and some are fees for each transfer. Each kind needs a different answer.
Kederi returns a fee object for each charge. Its type says what the charge is. Its avoidance says if the customer can stop it. The examples are invented. A test runs each one through the engine and compares each answer on this page.
Three kinds of charge
Statutory: a tax or a levy that the law sets. The customer cannot stop it. Stamp duty, EMTL and VAT are in this group.
Transaction: a fee for each transfer. The customer pays less if they make fewer transfers.
Service: a fee for a service that the customer can change, for example SMS alerts or a card that they do not use.
Stamp duty and EMTL
The government charges ₦50 on most electronic transfers of ₦10,000 or more. Reports say that some transfers are exempt, for example a salary payment or a transfer between two accounts of one person. Until the end of 2025, this charge was the Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), and the receiver of the money paid it.
From 1 January 2026, the charge is stamp duty, and banks take it from the sender. Nigerian news reports from 31 December 2025 describe the change, for example Channels TV and TheCable.
So a statement that covers both years can show the same ₦50 under two names, on credits before 2026 and on debits after. Kederi reads both names.
Stamp duty
FGN STAMP DUTYType stamp_duty, avoidance statutory.
EMTL
ELECTRONIC MONEY TRANSFER LEVYName EMTL, type emtl, avoidance statutory.
Transfer fees and VAT
A bank charges a fee for each NIP transfer. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sets the highest fee that a bank can charge, in its Guide to Charges by Banks. The CBN changes the guide from time to time, so read the current guide for the figures.
VAT is charged on the fee, not on the transfer. So one transfer can make two more debits: the fee, and the VAT on the fee.
Transfer fee
NIP TRANSFER FEEName Transfer fee, type transfer_fee, avoidance transaction.
VAT on a fee
VAT ON NIP TRANSFER FEEName VAT, type vat, avoidance statutory.
Service fees
These are the charges that a customer can stop. At most banks, a customer can change SMS alerts to email alerts or alerts in the bank app. A card maintenance fee is charged for each card, so if the customer closes a card that they do not use, that fee stops.
SMS alert charge
SMS CHARGE 01-MAR-2026 TO 31-MAR-2026Name SMS alert, type sms_alert, avoidance service.
Card maintenance
Q1 MASTER Card Maint.FeeName Card & account maintenance, type maintenance, avoidance service.
A reversed charge is not a charge
If a bank gives a fee back, it writes the fee narration again with a reversal marker. Kederi reads the marker first. So a reversed fee is a reversal, and it does not count as a fee.
Reversal of an SMS charge
RVSL_SMS CHARGE 01-MAR-2026 TO 31-MAR-2026Name Reversal, category Reversal.
Add up the charges
Find what a customer pays in fees
The fees report of POST /reports totals each kind of charge over the transactions that you send. It stores none of them.