Commercial banks have mandated travellers in need of dollars – Personal Travel Allowance (PTA) and Business Travel Allowance (BTA) – to get travel debit cards as they commence card-based dollar disbursements.

The policy shift, announced by many banks including FirstBank and Access Bank, followed rising cases of abuse by travelers who get forex but fail to use it for trip-related purposes or turnaround to trade the funds at black markets.

It is also a part of the Bankers’ Committee policy to use digital processes to track forex transactions, stop fraudsters from abusing the system, and save scarce forex for the economy.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) guidelines require that a company can buy up to $5,000 BTA per quarter while an individual is entitled to $4,000 PTA per quarter.

At one of the bankers’ committee meeting in Lagos last year, Group Managing Director, Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc, Segun Agbaje, said there have been incidents of customers presenting expired passports, invalid flight tickets, or open tickets that are canceled after they acquire the foreign exchange.

He said some bank customers have been also accused of requesting for forex in excess of what they require.

Agbaje added that banks do not want “fraudulent transactions taking place” in the guise of forex transactions.

The current card-based forex sales to customers are seen by industry experts as a major step to curb round-tripping in the industry and ensure that only genuine forex users get dollars.

In a note to its customers, First Bank said that PTA and BTA will now be transferred to the FirstBank Travel Card.

In the note titled “Updates on FX Purchase reads:” The bank further indicated that PTA/BTA sales are limited to two quarters per year and that only applicants with approved Form A are eligible for payout.

It said: “The full Personal Travel Allowance (PTA) and Business Travel Allowance (BTA) ($4,000 and $5,000) respectively will now be disbursed into your FirstBank Travel Card.

“All applications will be in line with regulatory requirements. Kindly ensure that all PTA/BTA applications along with the approved Form A are submitted at the branch exactly 14 days before your proposed travel date. Sales are limited to two quarters a year.”

The bank also said that applications for Form A (school fees, student upkeep, and PTA/BTA) must be processed on CBN’ s Trade Monitoring System (TRMS) Platform.

In an e-mail note to its customers, Access Bank Plc said it would now disburse PTA and BTA through Access Travel Debit Card.

“The Access Travel Debit Card has been created to enable customers to transact seamlessly when they travel abroad. It helps instant issuance for PTA/BTA requests, and easy access to international transactions through Point of Sale, online and Automated Teller Machines. All the unutilised sums on the card can be used for international transactions or other trips, the bank said.

The PTA/BTA comes with the advantage of getting dollars at official rates of around N435/$ thereby saving a premium of N270/$ compared to N705/$ sold at the parallel market.

The move followed difficulties faced by the CBN and banks to ensure that only travelers that genuinely need the forex get and use it for specified purposes.

The banks also went a step further by working with the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) to digitise forex buy. This led to aN NIBSS policy that enables banks to share details of international passports and Bank Verification Numbers(BVN) of people trying to defraud the system.

The CBN has consistently said it remained committed to ensuring liquidity in the foreign exchange market to meet genuine and legitimate demands. (The Nation)

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