Remittance: TransferWise Suspend Operation To Nigeria After CBN Illegal Alert

TransferWise has suspended transfer of remittance to Nigeria following an alert from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) that TransferWise and Azimo are not authorised to operate as international money transfer operators (IMTOs) in Nigeria.

The two companies are based in London, but the CBN warned that Azimo and TransferWise were carrying out unauthorised remittance transactions, and any individual that deals with both companies do so at hos or her own risk.

“The attention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been drawn to the activities of Messrs. Azimo and Messrs. Transfer Wise, both of which are purportedly transacting business, albeit unauthorised, as International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs).

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“The Bank wishes to notify the general public that neither Messrs. Azimo nor Messrs. Transfer Wise is licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria to operate as an International Money Transfer Operator (IMTO)." CBN said in a statement.

TransferWise has now informed its users that it will no longer transfer to Nigeria until further notice. While explaining the reason behind its suspension of transfer into Nigeria in email seen by AllNews, TransferWise stated that;

"We are doing this because of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recent regulatory update. It means that we can no longer offer sending money to Nigerian Naira with our current set-up. We are working hard on reopening this route, but we don't have an estimate for you yet.

"We would let you know as soon as transfer to Nigeria are available again," the statement reads.