The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has commenced the pilot phase of a tokenised payment system designed to prevent beneficiaries from making duplicate tuition payments to tertiary institutions.
Speaking in Abuja on Wednesday, NELFUND Managing Director Akintunde Sawyerr revealed that the tokenised model grants students direct control over fee transactions via institution-linked mobile tokens. The intervention addresses recurring instances where students independently paid institutional fees unaware that NELFUND had already remitted funds to their respective schools, resulting to double payments.
“We discovered that there were some issues with students being informed in good time that their payments had been made by NELFUND, which meant that some of them would pay because they hadn’t realised that NELFUND had paid already. We want to eliminate that need for refunds. So we’re placing the power of payment in the hands of the students.”
The agency disclosed that it has received nearly 400,000 applications as it pilots the new student-managed payment framework.
Under the new arrangement, students receive notifications once their approved loan funds are ready and must manually authorize the transfer to their designated school account. The funds cannot be diverted, withdrawn as cash, or transferred to personal bank accounts or alternative institutions.
“We’re not giving the students money, but we’re giving them power. The system, the token, not only can they not transfer it to their personal account, they can’t transfer it to any other school. If they don’t push the button, the money doesn’t go anywhere.”
Also speaking at the briefing, NELFUND Executive Director, Mustapha Iyal, confirmed that close to 400,000 applications have been received under the scheme so far. He emphasized that the tokens are non-transferable and restricted to institution-specific accounts, while upkeep allowances will be paid into the personal bank accounts of benefeciaries.
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