Fidelity Bank, one of the leading commercial banks in Nigeria have just launched an outbound money transfer project in collaboration with MoneyGram. This new outbound money transfer project is actually tailored for Nigerians and is tagged “Naija Sends”. The unique thing with this new outbound money transfer is that, the sender sends Naira abroad, and the money is received in the currency of the receiver in whatever nation that may be.
Outbound money transfer is person to person international money transfer from Nigeria to countries around the world, to friends or family members living abroad.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently increased the maximum value for outbound international money transfer services to $5,000 per transaction.
Speaking at an event to unveil the product in Lagos, the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Nnamdi Okonkwo said: “As you may know, over the years, Nigeria has been an in-bound money transfer country, but now, under the leadership of the CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, we can now do outbound transfer as well. “We all have relatives abroad who from time to time, send money home, but we also know that a lot of us here need to send money to people abroad.
“In the past, each time you needed to send money you have to fill a Form ‘M’ or Form ‘A’ and all of that. Alternatively, a lot of people simply go to the black market to buy dollars. But what the central bank has done was to make it easier to send money outside Nigeria and this has made things easier for a lot of customers.”
Okonkwo urged customers of the bank as well as non customers to take advantage of the bank’s efficient processing records to send monies to their friends and family members abroad.
He noted that the service would also boost financial inclusion.
“As I speak and as we launch today, we have already done 156 transactions over 65 of our branches and it is just the beginning. You can send money to over 200 countries.
“You just walk into any Fidelity Bank, fill the form and in less than 10 minutes the receiver will get the money,” he added.
On her part, MoneyGram’s Regional Manager for Anglophone West Africa, Mrs. Kemi Okusanya said, the launch of “Naija Sends” has further deepened the brands reach and service in Nigeria.
“With relationship between Fidelity Bank and MoneyGram, we see the launch of this product as strategic. This is because we see Fidelity Bank’s capacity to break new frontiers with this product,” she added.