Nigerian Banks Increase Processing Time for Foreign Exchange Access

Nigerian banks have recently made changes to the processing time for accessing foreign exchange (FX) for international school fees, personal travel allowance (PTA), and business travel allowance (BTA).

The processing time for accessing FX for international school fees has been increased to 120 days from 48 hours, while the amount of dollars for PTA and BTA has been cut by 50% and 60%, respectively, to $2,000 from $4,000 and $5,000.

The notice was first given by Access Bank in a letter titled “Important Information on Form A Request.” The bank noted that 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. Other banks are also expected to follow suit.

This development is a consequence of the persistent shortage of foreign exchange in the country, which has affected the ability of banks to meet customers’ requests for foreign currencies. This is not the first time the Central Bank of Nigeria has directed banks to reduce the processing time for PTA and international school fees.

In 2017, the CBN 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 reduced to 30 days and later to 60 days due to dollar shortages.

Last year, First Bank of Nigeria informed its customers in a notice that a minimum of 60 days was required for processing school fees and upkeep/maintenance, after the submission of documents along with the approved Form A at the bank’s branch.

The Nigerian Naira has also been affected by the increased demand for the dollar ahead of the gubernatorial traders’ statement, falling by 0.4 percent against the dollar. After trading on Monday, the local currency depreciated to an average rate of N753 per dollar, down from N750 last week at the parallel market.

At the Investors and Exporters (I&E) forex window, the Naira depreciated by 0.04 percent as the dollar was quoted at N461.67 on Monday as against the last close of N461.50 on Friday.