NELFUND Launches Token System to Prevent School Fee Duplication

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has initiated a pilot program for a tokenised payment system designed to prevent students from making duplicate payments of school fees. Managing Director Akintunde Sawyerr announced this development during a press briefing, revealing that nearly 400,000 applications have been received.

The new system allows students to authorize payments directly to their educational institutions using a mobile application linked to their approved loan funds, rather than receiving funds in their personal bank accounts. Sawyerr explained that this change addresses issues where students unknowingly paid fees that NELFUND had already covered, often due to delays in communication regarding payment notifications.

The system aims to empower students by enabling them to initiate payments and receive timely notifications about their approved fees. This mechanism is not a cash-disbursement system but rather a way to give students control over their payments while preventing misuse of funds.