First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Limited and MoneyGram International have entered into a business relationship to offer money transfer at all FCMB branches.
The agreement, which was signed on Monday, February 10, 2014, makes FCMB an agent of MoneyGram for international money transfer business in Nigeria.
The development, according to a statement from the bank, means that Nigerians and others can receive money sent to them from any part of the world through the over 270 FCMB branches nationwide.
“Our fellow Nigerians in the Diaspora can use this service to quickly send money to their loved ones here in Nigeria, using a variety of innovative solutions which will be released very soon. The bank will roll-out the MoneyGram services across all its branches nationwide in the next few weeks.”
Speaking at the ceremony, FCMB’s Executive Director, Lagos & South-West, Olufemi Bakre, explained that the bank’s decision to partner with MoneyGram was aimed at promoting financial inclusion and enhancing customer experience.
He stated that the development would help the bank, ‘’to further connect with all classes of the Nigerian society by bringing financial services closer to them,’ adding that FCMB’s ability to deliver MoneyGram’s products and services to its customers further highlights its commitment to deliver quality service and promote excellent customer satisfaction.
Bakre added that, ‘’we are very excited about this new venture because the inclusion of MoneyGram to our portfolio of financial solutions will broaden the scope of value-added services we offer our customers’’.
He assured that, “FCMB will leverage on this partnership, our strength in the retail banking space and our exceptional attention to quality service to become the leading MoneyGram agent in Nigeria, within the shortest possible time’’.
The Executive Vice President for Europe, Africa and Emerging Channels of MoneyGram International, Carl Olav-Scheible, said the African remittance industry in particular is enjoying vibrant growth, and MoneyGram is well positioned to provide remittance services to a growing community of customers.
According to him, “Nigeria is no doubt, an important factor to consider in our quest to achieve our aims. From one Agent Bank partner 15 years ago, MoneyGram today has 13 Agent Bank partners; the latest being FCMB.
“These agent banks are operating through nearly 5000 locations in Nigeria and through these our innovative and ever reliable partners, MoneyGram have added and continues to add value as it deploys its huge market presence advantage to constantly deliver customer satisfaction”.
He added that MoneyGram’s business focus is to strengthen interest in the development of alternative payment systems. “We are excited about leveraging technology opportunities as an alternative to our traditional bricks and mortar channels, both in Nigeria and the rest of the West African region. We believe that with an array of alternative channels in hand, we will cater to the specific needs of a discerning and burgeoning market”.