Access Bank To Deny Non-account Holders Access To Dollar, Others In Five Months, Set FX Allocation Limit

Access Bank has reviewed its foreign currency allocation for Maintenance/Upkeep of Nigerian students in foreign tertiary institutions, as dollar scarcity extends into the second half of the year.

The bank said abroad students limited maximum allocation to $1,500 per year, stating that the review will take effect from July 17 to December 2022. This was revealed in a statement to customers.

Prime Business Africa gathered that foreign currency will only be made available to customers, excluding persons without account from accessing the forex for their Maintenance/Upkeep.

Also, persons that have accessed the stated maximum earlier this year will not receive allocation upon application, the statement released on Sunday says.

What Access Bank Told Customers On Foreign Currency Allocation

“Between now and December 2022, we will process only one Maintenance/Upkeep request yearly per applicant for a maximum amount of $1,500 and only for customers whose school fees were processed through Access Bank. This is subject to Maintenance/Upkeep not having already been disbursed previously at any time this year.

“Where the original school fees payments were settled through other banks, we will not process the corresponding Maintenance/Upkeep requests. Applicants will be advised to contact the bank that originally processed their school fees.

“All applications that meet the above criteria will be processed and disbursed within 30 days from the date of approval, confirming that funds and documents are in line with requirements and will remain subject to FX availability.

“PTA/BTA requests will be processed and disbursed subject to FX availability and within 14 days of approval.” The statement reads.

What you need to know

Access Bank’s foreign currency allocation review comes amid forex scarcity that has limited access for students and persons in need of the legal tender for Personal Travel Allowance (PTA) and Business Travel Allowance (BTA).

While Nigeria’s foreign reserves rose from $38.4 billion to $39.4 billion last week, the country is still not able to meet the rising demands for FX in the official market, where forex is sold at N424.62, forcing people to depend on the black market which sells FX at $618.