CBN Adds VFD, 9 Others To List Of Licensed Money Transfer Operators

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has approved 10 additional international money transfer operators (IMTOs) to boost diaspora remittances.

While some of the operators had their addresses in Nigeria, others were based outside the country. These 10 new additions bring the total number of licensed IMTOs to stand at 57.

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In an updated post on its website yesterday, CBN listed the newly-licensed operators as Transfercorp Limited/VFD Group; Comot Trading Nigeria Limited; Direkt Wire UK Limited; Gabtrans UK Limited in partnership with Moneyto Limited; GDM Transfer PTY Limited; Innovate 1 Pay Limited; Paysend Plc; SANAA Capital LLC (Money4 Diaspora Services LLC); Swift Payment Limited and WI-PAY Global LLC. 

Nigeria’s foreign exchange (FX) earnings suffered a sharp decline following the impact of COVID-19. This has forced the CBN to seek ways of improving the country’s FX earnings through diaspora remittances.

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The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, recently said that weekly diaspora remittances rose from $5m to $30. He noted that the initiatives introduced by the CBN to boost foreign exchange in the country were yielding results. The apex bank also introduced a rebate of N5 for every $1 of fund remitted to Nigeria through IMTOs in its forex policy.