The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN and Western Union Company in collaboration with First Bank of Nigeria (FBN) have jointly launched an outbound remittance service in the country.
The newly launched outbound remittance service allows consumers to send funds in minutes via Western Union around the world. Before now, consumers in the country had only been able to receive funds via the service.
The service is currently being pioneered by First Bank while other accredited agents of western union are expected to join later.
Speaking at the launch in Abuja, CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele said the introduction of the service was in line with the apex bank’s strategic policy direction to transform the payment system landscape and further simplify money transfer business in the country.
“We are delighted that Western Union has taken the lead in providing outbound remittance services to Nigerians. Today’s launch demonstrates the company’s proactive step in taking advantage of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s vision of creating an enabling environment for the emergence of innovative and superior financial products that reduce transaction costs for Nigerians and give them a chance at living better lives.”
He said the initiative was targeted at remittances by individuals to dependants, children and wards abroad as well as person to person needs.
Under the new service for now, users are allowed a maximum of $2,000 per transaction, according to Emefiele adding that transactions will be scrutinized to avoid abuse of the facility for money-laundering.
He said the outbound option which is the first of its kind in the country was also aimed at providing alternative channel of foreign exchange transfer to serve the needs of small foreign exchange end- users and simultaneously reduce the amount of foreign exchange sourced from official forex window in the country as well as help conserve foreign exchange.
With the latest initiative, the CBN boss said users do not need to go to a bank or bureau de change (BDCs) to buy foreign currency in order to transfer money abroad.
Instead, senders are expected to take the Naira equivalent of the amount of foreign currency they wish to transfer to any of the over 5000 western union outlets in the country.
He said talks were ongoing with western union to engage well-structured BDCs to become western union agents so as to make the service accessible to more Nigerians.
He said conditions would be given under which BDCs would qualify as western union agents.
Emefiele also said the CBN would provide up to N10 million of the mandatory deposits of BDCs with the apex bank to western union as guarantees for its transactions with BDCs.
He said the CBN would put in place stringent criteria for BDCs before they qualify as western union agents in order to minimize abuse and infractions.
He added that the move would allow BDCs earn fees in areas that they ordinarily would not have benefitted stressing that the CBN aims to make the BDC business a robust one for operators.
Meanwhile, Regional Vice President for Africa, Western Union, Aida Diarra said the outbound money transfer service move a significant number of people from the informal to the formal sector of the economy.
“We are very pleased to announce the launch of the outbound send service from Nigeria to destinations around the world. We anticipate that the outbound enabled service offering in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, will be instrumental in making positive economic impact in the country by supporting business growth, social development and financial inclusion.
“We are at the forefront of innovation in the industry and we believe this service will respond to our new consumer segment needs. We pride ourselves in moving money for better by giving consumers access to a range of quality financial services in a convenient manner. This is further demonstration of our efforts to support the Central Bank of Nigeria’s objectives for financial inclusion.”
Also speaking at the launch, Group Executive, Technology and Services, FBN, Akin Fanimokun said the launch of the outbound service represented a significant milestone, as Nigerians are now able to send money to other countries through the western union platform.
He said the bank and the union had over the last two decades enjoyed a robust relationship, which has had remarkable impact in the lives of its valuable customers and Nigerians in general, adding that the bank would derive significant benefits from the transactions that would be carried out through the service.
Fanimokun said that “Having been the first to offer Western Union Services in the country as far back as 1995, we remain committed to delivering innovative customer solutions and are proud to be the first bank to offer yet another excellent customer focused solution – the Western Union Out Bound Service – to the Nigerian market. As a Brand, we remain committed to putting our customers first.”
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