Banks adjust FX school fees request time

Nigerian banks have adjusted the processing time for accessing foreign exchange (FX) for international school fees to 120 days from 48 hours.

They have also cut the amount of dollars for personal travel allowance (PTA) and Business Travel Allowance (BTA) by 50 and 60 percent to $2,000 from $4,000 and $5,000 respectively.

In a message by Access Bank to its customers, titled, “important information on Form A request’, it noted that the processing time has been increased to 120 days.

Other banks are expected to follow suit in making adjustments.

The notice said, “We value your relationship with us and would like to keep you informed on updates regarding our fulfillment of Form A requests. PTA / BTA requests are now processed a maximum of twice annually per applicant to the tune of $2,000 per application where the request is within 14 days of the travel date. International school fees and Upkeep requests are processed within 120 days from the date of approval.

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“All applications are processed and disbursed subject to FX availability, proper documentation, and provided the account to be debited is sufficiently funded to cover the Form A charge and other processing fees.

“Kindly ensure your account is sufficiently funded to accommodate the value of the transaction and charges at the time of processing, “as any request not backed with an adequately funded account or the required documentation will be rejected and considered a new request upon re-submission. Updates on pending, approved or rejected Form A requests are duly posted and accessible on the Trade Monitoring System portal.”

In 2017, the Central Bank of Nigeria directed banks to meet all PTA needs within 24 hours of application and respond within 48 hours if the application was in respect of paying school fees and medical bills.

Subsequently, the processing time was 30 days and later on to 60 days due to dollar shortages.

The latest adjustment once again confirmed the level of pressure Nigerian banks are facing in foreign exchange demand.