Botswana Savings Bank (BSB) has been appointed to provide banking services for students to receive their allowances, according to the Ministry of Finance. The contract will be valid for a period of three years.
First National Bank Botswana (FNBB) has been used to process student allowances for beneficiaries of the DTEF sponsorship since 2005, marking the end of a 21-year-old relationship.
Following the lapse of the initial contract, an expression of interest to offer these services to government-funded students was publicised in 2015, and FNBB was once again awarded the tender. The Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Board’s (PPADB) tender adjudication committee said this was based on the cheaper costs, benefits extended to students, that is, subsidised monthly account fees, convenience and accessibility of services.
FNBB offered a subsidised monthly account maintenance fee (currently at P6.00) compared to a public rate charge of P11.00, access to the eBucks rewards programme, an opportunity to earn up to 15% back in eBucks on their prepaid airtime, electricity when using FNBB electronic platforms and discounts at selected merchants and rewards partners for Department of Tertiary Education Financing (DTEF) sponsored students only.
However, in the past, the arrangement between FNBB and DTEF had been marred by allegations of irregularities. In 2018, it surfaced that the Students’ Allowances Disbursement Accounts by the Department of Tertiary Education Financing had not been reconciled for more than a decade.
The distress came after establishing that nearly P1.6 billion was unaccounted for, bringing into question the transparency of spending by the Ministry of Tertiary Education, Research, Science and Technology in the accounts held at First National Bank of Botswana.
BSB takes over the account at a time when the bank recently announced the resignation of CEO Nixon Marumoloa following his suspension in November 2025.
Despite receiving a loan of P105 million in 2015 to facilitate the acquisition of a commercial banking license, Botswana Savings Bank has yet to acquire, or even apply for, the license.
According to Marumoloa in the bank's latest annual report, the timeline for the license application and BSB's subsequent transition to a commercial bank is still "unknown".
Additional information source: Business Weekly & Review