Nigerian Education Loan Fund Introduces New Fee Payment System

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has introduced a tokenised payment system aimed at preventing students from paying their school fees twice. Managing Director Akintunde Sawyerr announced the initiative on October 28, explaining that it will allow students to authorise approved tuition payments directly to their institutions instead of having the funds pass through their personal bank accounts. Read the report by the Daily Post.

Under this new arrangement, students will receive notifications when approved school fees are ready for payment and can then authorise the transaction through a mobile application. The token will be linked to the designated institution, preventing students from transferring the approved tuition funds to personal accounts or redirecting them to another school. NELFUND said the system is intended to address cases where students pay their fees without knowing the fund has already settled the bill, creating complications over refunds.

NELFUND confirmed that the pilot phase has commenced and stated that nearly 400,000 applications had been received under the ongoing process. However, officials did not announce a date for full implementation. The initiative focuses on institutional fee payments; approved upkeep allowances remain a separate part of the student loan scheme. Students can check official updates through the NELFUND website.