Banks raise processing time for FX school fees to 120 days, cut PTA/BTA to $2k

Nigerian banks have announced that international school fees and upkeep requests through Form A will now be processed within 120 days.

The banks announced the development in emails recently sent to their customers and seen by TheCable.

The development comes amid the lingering forex scarcity in the country.

Form A is an application form designed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to pay for service transactions (invisible trade) like foreign tuition, training courses and medical bills.

Through the form, Nigerians studying abroad access foreign exchange at the official rate rather than sourcing from the parallel market which is always significantly higher.

The process usually takes two to three weeks — depending on the application period.

The banks have also cut the amount of dollars for personal travel allowance (PTA) and business travel allowance (BTA) to a maximum of twice annually per applicant to the tune of $2,000 per application.

“We value your relationship with us and would like to keep you informed on updates regarding our fulfilment of Form A request,” Access Bank said.

“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.

“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.”

First Bank also told its customers that requests for foreign exchange would continue to be treated on a first-come, first-served basis, subject to availability of FX.

“Payment of PTA/BTA is subject to a maximum of $2,000 and two quarters in a year, while funds will be disbursed within the week of the trip. Customers are encouraged to apply for PTA/BTA some weeks ahead of their trip,” the notice reads in part.

“Application for upkeep is subject to a maximum of $1,500 (or its equivalent in other currencies) per semester and limited to 2 semesters per session.

“Payment of school fees is subject to a maximum of $7,500 (or its equivalent in other currencies) per semester and limited to 2 semesters per session.

“A minimum of 16 weeks is required for processing school fees and upkeep/maintenance, after the submission of documents along with the approved Form A at the branch.”

“Application for Form A for school fees, student upkeep and PTA/BTA, must be processed on the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Trade Monitoring System (TRMS) and must be in line with regulatory requirements.”

Last year, TheCable reported that the Manchester Metropolitan University asked the CBN to speed up the payment of tuition transactions for Nigerians studying in the United Kingdom.

The university management complained the difficulty experienced by Nigerian students with respect to payment of tuition fees had become a growing concern.