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Nigerian Students abroad Can Now Pay Tuition Fees with Naira Cards - DAILY TRUST
By Seun Adeuyi
ng to pay international tuition fees can now do so directly from their naira accounts, with processing completed in as little as four days, following renewed liquidity in the foreign exchange market.
This development comes as Nigerian banks announce the availability of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Form A platform, which allows individuals to pay for eligible services including educational fees, medical bills, and training courses using the official foreign exchange window.
In an email to its customers on Monday, Guaranty Trust Bank GTBank confirmed that both undergraduate and postgraduate tuition payments abroad can now be made through naira accounts using the Form A process.
Pay international tuition fees directly from your naira account, the bank stated, adding that applications must be submitted via the Trade System Portal at www.tradesystem.gov.ng
GTBank advised customers to select Form A for Educational Fees, choose the bank as the processing institution, upload the required documents, and submit.
Similarly, Lotus Bank issued a notice informing its customers of the same facility, highlighting that the process was never suspended but previously experienced reduced demand due to foreign exchange scarcity and policy uncertainty.
The process has always been available, but due to a lack of funds, many people could not access it. Now, with improved liquidity, people are returning, a Lotus Bank official explained.
The official further stated that the timeframe for processing educational payments has significantly reduced due to improved availability of foreign exchange.
Once instructions are sent, the treasury team sources the dollar in T plus 2 two business days. For example, if instructions are sent on Monday, the account is debited by Thursday and the school receives the funds by Friday, the official added.
To complete the payment process, applicants are expected to provide a valid admission letter, school invoice, international passport, written instructions to debit their account and remit payment, tax clearance certificate, and completed Form A.
This marks a major improvement from 2022 when Nigerian banks required up to 120 days to process international school fees due to severe foreign exchange shortages.
The announcement comes just one month after commercial banks resumed international transactions on naira cards, signalling increased foreign exchange stability and expanding access for Nigerians seeking to study abroad.