By Emele Onu, 08.24.2010 

 

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been urged to review rules guiding money transfer in the country to promote trade across the West African sub- region.Some commodity traders in the sub-region said with the maximum limit of N1.5 million authorised by the CBN for money transfer, it is difficult for them to carry out large volume businesses across the neighbouring countries.

 

One of the traders dealing in cattle, Adamu Garuba, told THISDAY in Lagos at the launch of a money transfer product by Ecobank Group, branded Rapid Transfer Service (RT), that the members of their trade association have to abandon the banks in transferring their money running into millions of naira daily because of the low limit that can be transferred by the CBN regulation.

 

Ecobank unveiled RT to meet the needs of customers to receive and send money from one Ecobank branch to another in a convenient and reliable manner. But with the product, according to the permissible limit of the CBN, traders can only transfer N1.5 million at a time for a maximum of three times in a week, which represents N4.5 maximum transfer in a week.

 

The Managing Director of Ecobank Nigeria, Mr Jibril Aku, however, assured the traders that the bank had commenced discussions on the transfer limit with the CBN, with a view to getting a higher limit that will further facilitate exchange and trade.Aku said Rapid Transfer is the first of its kind in Nigeria, designed to save customers from the risk associated with carrying cash, adding that it facilitates easy payment for goods and services across African borders without the hassles of sourcing foreign exchange for payments to be made in the local currencies of the transferring and receiving countries.

 

“The benefits of the products include ability to send and receive money in Ecobank affiliates. The payments and receipts are in currencies of the respective countries and can be used to pay for goods and services subject to the limit of each country’s regulatory approvals and exchange control guideline,” he said. The uniqueness of the product, according to Ecobank, is its swiftness in delivery and accessibility as transactions are consummated within 10 minutes at the country of destination.

 

Source:ThisDay