Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
Many deposit money banks (DMBs) have asked their customers to increase the funds in their Naira accounts to enable them to receive the equivalent of the foreign currencies they applied for through Form A and Form Q.
This development is coming after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) floated the Naira in the currency market last week.
Before the new policy became effective, some customers had filed for foreign exchange (FX) allocation at the old rate of N465/$1, but the new development weakened the value to N663/$1 last Friday.
In simple terms, a customer who earlier filed for $4,000 BTA through Form A or $10,000 through Form Q needed to fund his Naira account with at least N1.860 million or N4.650 million, respectively.
However, with the new development, such a customer must have at least N2.652 million or N6.630 million, respectively, in his Naira account, going by the exchange rate of last Friday.
The CBN has given commercial banks the liberty to exchange the Naira to the Dollar at the prevailing market rate, and this is the rate quoted at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window of the forex market.
“We kindly request that you adequately fund your account to accommodate the Naira equivalent of your foreign currency needs.
“Whilst thanking you for your patronage, please be assured of our utmost commitment to always provide you with quality banking service,” a part of the message sent by Access Bank to its customer said.
The lender further emphasised in the notice sighted by Business Post that the changes “will affect all new and pending Form A and Form Q applications.”
Similarly, Fidelity Bank informed its customers that it would sell foreign currencies at the market-determined rate “at the time of processing,” and this will apply to “payment for letter of credit, bills for collection and other invisible trade transactions.”
It further stated that “all eligible requests will be treated subject to FX availability.”
In the case of First Bank, it stated that, “All applications will be processed through the bank; however, the Foreign Exchange (FX) rate will no longer be determined by the CBN.”
“Applicable rates will be determined by the prevailing rate at the Investors & Exporters (I&E) window at the time the request is processed by the Bank.
“All regulatory documentation requirements subsist.
“Kindly ensure that your account is sufficiently funded at all the stages of application.
“These changes affect all new and pending applications,” it further said.
