Two Nigerian banks have announced that Form A requests for international school fees and upkeep will now be processed within 120 days.
First bank and Access bank announced the news in emails sent to their customers recently.
The development comes amid the country’s persistent currency scarcity.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) created Form A to pay for service transactions (invisible trade) such as foreign tuition, training courses, and medical bills.
Nigerian students studying abroad can use the form to obtain foreign currency at the official rate rather than the parallel market, which is always significantly higher.
Depending on the application period, the process typically takes two to three weeks.
The banks have also reduced 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.
Access bank’s message about PTA/BTA
“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 to treat FX requests on first-come basis
First Bank also informed its customers that foreign exchange requests would continue to be handled on a first-come, first-served basis, subject to FX availability.
“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.”
