Yomi, dropping his phone slowly on the table, changed the voice control to a loudspeaker and continued to type slowly on his laptop.

His step-brother, Gbade, had just called to inform him of the final installment of N100,000 as school fees, which has to be paid before his exams scheduled to start the following week.

“But why didn’t you tell me about this before?” Yomi asked.

“I did. When I got no response from you, I knew you didn’t have it at the time,” Gbade responded.

Yomi realised that he had just five days left to get the money. After spending more than N2 million on tuition and school materials within two years, he found it unbearable that the final payment would deprive his step-brother a Master’s Degree.

He went through a mental roll-call of his friends and colleagues, but based on the mood he had noticed in the office recently, he felt that help would not be forthcoming as fast as he wanted.

He saw his colleague, Richard walk in through the door with the files he had requested.

“How much do we have left to pay again?” he asked Gbade.

“Three hundred and seventy-five thousand naira. But I wouldn’t mind something extra…”

“Just stop there,” Yomi interjected. “Where do you think I’ll get the money? Let’s find your school fees first”. He ended the connection.

Richard sat down as Yomi nodded at him.

“What’s going on?” Yomi asked.

“I’m totally broke. But somehow Gbade expects me to pull a stunt and send him N100,000 this week”.

“You didn’t tell him that the weather is really harsh this time of the month?”

“I doubt the school is waiting to listen to that excuse. The shocking thing is that I have no idea how to get that money.”

“Why don’t you get a loan? You are a salary earner, aren’t you?

“What loan is that? I told you that he needs the money this week. Do you know how long it takes to process bank loans in Nigeria?”

“No, this one is different. In fact, if you apply for it today you’ll get it instantly,” Richard says reassuringly.

“Really? How does that work?” Yomi asked anxiously.

“It’s Access Bank’s salary advance on your account. You just dial *901*11# on your phone for confirmation. You don’t even have to visit the bank or have an Access Bank account.”

“That’s really fast. But is that possible?”

“I sent some money to my Dad on Monday. Where do you think I got it?”

“You mean the same one he requested for that day. I definitely need this right now”.

Taking his phone, Yomi began to dial as Richard watched. Gbade paid his outstanding school fees that afternoon.