OUT-BOUND MONEY TRANSFER WILL STRENGTHEN NIGERIAS ECONOMY, SAYS WESTERN UNION The Regional Vice President for Africa, Western Union, Mrs Aida Diarra, on Friday said the new out-bound money transfer service in Nigeria would have positive impact on the nation’s economy. Diarra stated this at the inauguration of the service in Abuja. She said that the service was a synergy among Western Union, First Bank and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), adding that the product would support business growth, social development and financial inclusion in the country. She said that the service would provide customers with a means to send payments and purchase money orders through a network of 500,000 agents located in 200 countries and with over 100,000 Automated Teller Machines (ATMs). Expressing confidence that the new service would respond to customers’ needs, she, however, said for now, the direction is that no customer can transfer more than 2,000 dollars per transaction. Diarra claimed that in 2013, Western Union completed 242 million consumer transactions around the world, which involved 82 billion dollars and 459 million business payments. She said the service was in line with the CBN’s objective of providing modern and efficient payment systems for customers in Nigeria. She added that the service was aimed at further encouraging remittance flows and to deepen the company’s contribution “to the growth of Africa’s largest economy”. In his speech, the Group Executive, Technology and Services, First Bank, Mr Akin Fanimokun, said that the out-bound service provided consumers with opportunity to send and receive funds within minutes. Describing it as “a significant milestone”, he said that the outward remittance of money from Nigeria had made remarkable impact on the lives of customers at home and in the Diaspora. He said that First Bank was the pioneer agent for the service in the country and would benefit from the commissions that would be derived from the transactions.
Posted on: Sun, 17 Aug 2014 10:51:41 +0000