Nigerian banks have started to increase the processing period for obtaining foreign exchange (FX) for overseas school expenses from 48 hours to 120 days.
Also, the personal travel allowance (PTA) and business travel allowance (BTA) dollar amounts have been reduced by 50 and 60 percent, respectively, to $2,000 from $4,000 and $5,000.
Access Bank’s message to clients, headlined “essential information on Form A request,” makes this clear. Several banks reportedly do the same.
We respect our relationship with you and would like to keep you updated on developments surrounding the fulfillment of Form A requests, the notice stated. PTA/BTA requests are now only processed twice a year at a maximum cost of $2,000 per request when made less than 14 days before departure. Within 120 days of the date of acceptance, requests for upkeep and international school costs are addressed.
All applications are processed and payments are made as long as there is FX availability, valid documentation, and enough funds in the account to cover the Form A charge and other processing fees.
As any request not supported by an adequately funded account or the necessary documentation will be refused and treated as a new request upon re-submission, please make sure your account is properly funded to handle the value of the transaction and charges at the time of processing. In the Trade Monitoring System portal, updates on Form A requests that are pending, authorized, or rejected are properly displayed and available.
In 2017, the CBN ordered banks to reply to all PTA requests within 24 hours of application and to requests for school tuition and medical bill payments within 48 hours.
Due to a paucity of dollars, the processing period was subsequently cut to 30 days and then 60 days.
In a message to customers last year, First Bank of Nigeria explained that processing school fees and upkeep/maintenance would take at least 60 days after the paperwork and the approved Form A were turned in to the bank’s branch.
The notice stated that payments for school fees were restricted to two semesters each session and a maximum of $15,000 per semester.
Application for Upkeep was restricted to two semesters each session and a maximum of $3,000 (or its equivalent in other currencies) per semester.
“For maintenance to be processed, payment of school fees for the current session must be made through FirstBank.
Due to increasing demand for the currency from largely politicians ahead of the gubernatorial traders’ announcement, the naira lost 0.4% versus the dollar on Monday.
During Monday’s trading, the local currency dropped from last week’s average rate of N750 per dollar to an average rate of N753 per dollar.
The Naira lost 0.04 percent value at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) FX market on Monday as the dollar was quoted at N461.67 as opposed to its previous close of N461.50 on Friday.
