Ecobank Nigeria says it has collaborated with MoneyGram to commence outbound money transfer service.
The service, tagged ‘MoneyGram Naija Sends’; allows Nigerians to send money abroad through any of the bank’s branches in the country, while the funds are received in specified currency in the receiving country.
The pan-African bank said the initiative was in line with the recent introduction of the revised guidelines for international money transfer services by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
According to a statement by Ecobank, a customer who wishes to use the service will pay the naira equivalent of the amount to be transferred (plus applicable charges) to the bank.
As an agent of MoneyGram, the lender said it would pay specified beneficiary in destination country the equivalent of the amount paid by the sender.
The Executive Director, Ecobank Nigeria, Mr. Kingsley Umadia, was quoted as lauding the partnership with MoneyGram, saying it represented a significant milestone.
According to him, customers can now send funds to family and friends around the globe in naira and this could be received in the currency of the receiving country where available.
Umadia said, “This innovative, customer-centric initiative is another way of delivery of excellent service to our customers. As a bank, we will continue to deliver and raise the bar of customers’satisfaction,” adding that it would also boost trade across the continent.
The Executive Vice-President, Business Development and Global Product, MoneyGram, Mr. Alex Hoffman, was quoted as saying, “At MoneyGram, we believe in movement, we believe in progress.
“We believe in never being satisfied with the status quo, we believe in pushing the boundaries to give more to our customers the ability to send out of Nigeria, what we in Nigeria call Naija Sends. This represents our commitment to movement.”
He noted that customers of Ecobank could walk into any of the bank’s branches and send money to the world on MoneyGram.
“I will like to express my confidence that Ecobank shall deploy its characteristic excellence in marketing, operations and compliance to this product, and I am sure by December, Ecobank will be the number one MoneyGram send agent in Nigeria,” he said.
Punch
