By Sandra Kenneth
The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has commenced the pilot phase of a new tokenised payment system designed to prevent students from paying their school fees twice and to eliminate complications associated with refunds.
NELFUND’s Managing Director, Akintunde Sawyerr, disclosed this on Wednesday during a press briefing, revealing that the fund has already received nearly 400,000 applications under the ongoing process.
According to Sawyerr, the new arrangement will allow students to initiate payments directly to their respective institutions using tokens linked specifically to their schools, rather than receiving the funds directly into their personal bank accounts.
He explained that previous delays in notifying students about payments made by the fund had sometimes resulted in beneficiaries making duplicate payments independently to meet academic deadlines, unaware that NELFUND had already settled the fees.
“We want to eliminate that need for refunds. So we’re placing the power of payment in the hands of the students,” Sawyerr stated, noting that beneficiaries will receive notifications when their approved fees are ready and can then authorize the transaction through their phones.
The Managing Director clarified that the system is not a cash-disbursement platform, stressing that the tokens are strictly restricted to the designated institutions. NELFUND’s Executive Director, Mustapha Iyal, further corroborated this, explaining that the token is attached to a specific school and cannot be converted into a personal mobile money wallet, redirected to another institution, or withdrawn into a personal bank account.
NELFUND administers the Federal Government’s student loan scheme under the Students Loans (Access to Higher Education) Act, providing eligible Nigerian students with interest-free loans to cover institutional charges and upkeep expenses.
