Less than 24 hours, when directives issue out a new directive on free accessibility of forex, stating that hence forth all Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) to buy and sell foreign currency to travelers (both customers and noncustomers) upon presentation of relevant valid travel documents such as visa and tickets over the counter. It added that all travelers should be attended to immediately at banks’Financial analysts, economic experts and banking public have been speaking highly of Zenith bank for adjusting swift to the directives on Forex.It was still same commendation when CBN gov paid unscheduled visit to the bank’s office in Maitama Abuja.
Zenith sells Basic Travel Allowance (BTA) to anybody that walks into the bank; whether he is a customer or not a customer of Zenith bank. All that you need present to get your forex, are your BVN (Bank Verification Number), your passport, your visa and your return ticket. You are not expected to just deposit your documents and go away. You will be attended to over the counter
The price is N360 to a dollar that you are going to pay; there is ample liquidity for every eligible traveler and nobody should fall into the temptation of buying BTA or PTA from a bank at more than N360/$1. The banks are entitled to their margins. Their margins have been built into it. You don’t have to pay any charge.
Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, yesterday paid unscheduled visits to three commercial banks in Abuja to monitor compliance with the Over The Counter (OTC) sales order of forex to qualified buyers.
Speaking with reporters, Executive Director (Northern operations) of Zenith Bank Plc, Umar Ahmed, said the bank has been attending to both customers and non customers that walked in for BTA. “We are attending to customers irrespective of whether the customer has account with us or not. All we required is for the customer to present eligible papers and he gets his currency in matter of minutes,“ he said.
“We’ve been attending to customers whether you have an account with us or not. We validate their documents and BVN and then sell forex to them. It doesn’t take time,” she said.
At Zenith Bank, the Executive Director, Umar Ahmed said it takes the bank less than five minutes to serve a customer once the documents have been verified.
According to him, “ we pay promptly and we do not encounter any challenges. We’ve enough forex supply to meet demands. We have a new set of forex seekers which is those going for umrah lesser hajj.”