Initially, sending money abroad from Nigeria to other countries in the world is practically impossible but with the CBN revised guidelines for International Money Transfer Services; Nigerian Banks and money transfer operators have started deploying Outbound Money Transfer Services to ease the stress of sending money abroad from Nigeria to individuals and companies outside the country.

                                               Credit: naijaolinebiz.com photo

A quick re-cap about CBN guideline on international outbound money transfers before we go into how to send money abroad from Nigeria;

• Maximum limit of the outbound money transfer is US $2,000 or its equivalent per transaction, subject to periodic review by the CBN.
• Currency to be given to bank and money transfer agent for an outbound transfer is in Naira.
• Outward payment transaction is executed in a convertible currency agreed between the parties involve.
• Currency conversion service is offered before initiation of a payment transaction or at the point of payment, the money transfer services operator must disclose all charges, as well as the exchange rate to be used for converting the payment transaction.

Now, let’s get down to how to send money abroad from Nigeria. Everything I’m going to discuss here will boil down to how to send money internationally from Nigeria. It doesn’t matter if your recipient is in UK, United State of America (USA), China, Ukraine, UAE, South Africa, Malaysia, Cameroun, Ghana, India, Kenya, Dubai, Canada, Philippines and so on.

It is easier to receive money in Nigeria from other country than to send money abroad from Nigeria because almost all Nigerian banks are under the inbound money transfer services guideline as provided by CBN. Under the Inbound money transfer, an individual living abroad can send money to an individual in Nigeria without restrictions. The money transfer regulation by CBN came up as a result of the negative perception about Nigeria being a country for money laundering and others fraudulent activities.

For this very reason; many Nigerians who wish to send money to their family members, relatives, friends, make payment for conference registration and those who are into the business of importation of goods and service from other countries continue to find it difficult. In August 2014, there is an introduction of the revised guideline for International Money Transfer Services by CBN, which allows Outbound Money Transfer services in the country. The Outbound Money Transfer service is person to person international money transfer. It doesn’t matter if you have bank account here in Nigeria or in these countries as many people would say…it is the prerequisite.

In one of my earlier post, I showed you how you can transfer money from Nigeria bank account to foreign account number. Today, in this article, I will show you how to send money from Nigeria to any other Country in the world. So, you if thinking of paying for conference(s) registration or making payment abroad while in Nigeria to UK, United State, India, Cameroun, Ghana, South Africa, Canada,  Uganda, USA, Europe, Kenya, Philippines, UAE, Malaysia, Germany, Dubai, Indonesia, Jamaica, China, Pakistan, Mali etc. for international business transactions, to family member, relatives or friends; below are 5 best options you can use to send money abroad from Nigeria with detailed steps on how to go about it. Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) licensed only MoneyGram and Western Union as International Money Transfer Service Operators in Nigeria but I have additional three (3) other ways I have used to send money internationally from Nigeria making it a total of five options.

5 Best Ways to Send Money Abroad from Nigeria:

WESTERN UNION

How to Send Money Abroad using Western Union

• Go to any commercial bank in Nigeria licensed by CBN  to operate International Money Transfer Service  (e.g Firstbank of Nigeria Plc) close to you
• Move straight to international money transfer or foreign currency exchange cahier and tell him/her you want make an international money transfer. Some forms will be given to you to fill-in the recipient’s personal information, bank account details and the amount you want to send abroad.
• Fill the form properly and wherever you’re confused, ask questions.
• Finally, you will be required to provide a standard charge/fees of approximately N16,500 for every $2000 transfer.

Note: you don’t need to open or have bank account with Firstbank for this to be possible. You’re required to provide a valid Identification card- National ID card, driving license or international passport will be required. You’ll also ask to provide your receiver’s location and bank details. You’re going to be charged a variable transaction fee, fixed VAT and tax.

All currency conversion will be done by commercial bank, so no need to worry about currency exchange rates. For example; if you’re to send money to UK from Nigeria, Firstbank will help you convert your naira amount to its equivalent pound sterling (£ / GBP) before sending the money.

Sending money from Nigeria to another country through Firstbank’s western union money transfer service is very easy and simple. You can actually follow this method to send money from Nigeria to any country in the world. However, this method is best used when you want to send out small amount of money abroad because of CBN directives and guidelines.

There are over 5,000 Western Union outlets in Nigeria, 22 licensed banks and 905 microfinance banks. Among these banks, about 70% of them already serve as agents to Western Union but their agent service relationship is limited to provision of Inbound Money Transfer Services. However, with the new guidelines allowing provision of Outbound Money Transfer services, and the CBN licensing western union money transfer, some banks that offer inbound money transfer have started signing up as agents for Outbound Money Transfer services.

I have personally tried sending funds through many of these Nigerian commercial bank Western Union money transfer service to other country but they all failed.

The only Nigerian bank I know that offers Outbound Money Transfer service through Western Union as of the time this article is written is FIRST BANK OF NIGERIA PLC. First Bank was licensed by CBN and commenced the outward sending of Naira to other countries via Western Union since September 2014.

DOMICILIARY ACCOUNT

How to Send Money Abroad through Domiciliary Account

• Visit any commercial bank that operates domiciliary account in Nigeria.
• Locate their customer service Reps and tell him/her, you want to transfer from your domiciliary account to another account abroad. You will be directed to the right person in charge. Money transfer form will be given you.
• Fill recipient’s account name, account number, name of the bank and branch name, SWIFT CODE, Routing Number, amount to be transferred and your own bank details. Fill the form and wherever you are confused, don’t hesitate to ask question.
• Submit the form and you’re done. Within 48-72hours, you receive an SMS that the money has been deducted from your domiciliary account and transferred to the overseas account.

NOTE: If the money you want to transfer abroad is more than what you have in your domiciliary account, you’ll need to deposit extra money into your domiciliary account. Nigerian commercial banks are NOT into currency conversion; therefore you’ll convert the money you want to deposit into your domiciliary account to its equivalent international accepted currency. You can do this at black market or any other financial institutions that are into money exchange.

With domiciliary account you can wire money abroad from Nigeria. Sending money Abroad from Nigeria through a domiciliary account will require that you open a domiciliary account. You can open a domiciliary account with Gtbank, Firstbank, Zenith bank, diamond bank or UBA.

A domiciliary account will allows you save money in US Dollars, Pounds Sterling or Euro with your money valued at the prevailing exchange rate. The account will help you in your international business. It is funded through travelers’ cheques, lodgment of foreign currency cheques, cash inflows and cash deposits. Domiciliary account is the best option when sending huge/large amount of money abroad from Nigeria.

Things required for sending money Abroad from Nigeria through domiciliary Account include:

• Recipient’s bank details – these include account name, account number, name of the bank and branch name, SWIFT CODE, Routing Number.
• The money – if the money you will transfer abroad is more than what you have in your domiciliary account, you have to pay in extra money into your domiciliary account. Meanwhile, GTbank are NOT into currency conversion, therefore you have to convert the money (the naira form) to its equivalent international accepted standard currency (such as dollar, euro, or pounds sterling) before paying-in into domiciliary account. You can do this at Firstbank, black market or any other financial institutions that are into money exchange.

MONEYGRAM

How to Send Money Abroad through MoneyGram

• Simply walk into any commercial bank that offer  international outbound transfer service and request you want to send out money to any country in the world
• You will be given MoneyGram money transfer form to fill.
• Within 48 – 72 hours, the money will transfer abroad.

UBA was given a go-ahead to send out money through MoneyGram International since October 2014. The “Naija Sends” is the Outbound Money Transfer service by MoneyGram and UBA Plc.

Ecobank, UBA, First Bank, Access Bank, Sterling Bank, Fidelity Bank, Skye Bank, Keystone Bank, Enterprise Bank, Mainstreet Bank, Diamond Bank and Wema Bank, among others financial institution offer MoneyGram service in Nigeria.

MoneyGram has over 300,000 locations in over 200 countries, partnering with UBA with over 700 business offices in 19 African countries and offices in New York, London and Paris, offers the best choice for Nigerian’s sending money abroad to loved ones

PAYPAL

How to Send Money Abroad using PayPal

• Open a PayPal account in Nigeria through Firstbank online banking platform (FirstOnline).
• Once you open the PayPal account with Firstbank, login into your Firstbank PayPal account through FirstOnline (firstbank internet banking platform) and send the money abroad to any country you want.

Or

• Visit any Firstbank branch close to you and request that you want to transfer from your PayPal account to another account abroad.
• PayPal money transfer form will be given to you to fill.
• Fill form correctly and submit and you’re done!

PayPal is one of the world’s largest online payment platforms which allow individuals and businesses to make easy international payments. It has been used over the years to pay for transactions on online platforms like Amazon, eBay, and other top e-Commerce websites. PayPal boasts of more than 100 million users worldwide. PayPal can be highly effective for transferring small amount of cash overseas and with a surprisingly low-cost option. But for high amount more than a few hundred dollars it is usually expensive compared to almost any other method. Mark the phrase “can be” – that is assuming your recipient has a PayPal account. If you are to send money from Nigeria to another country through PayPal, you need a PayPal account. Some good news here is that Firstbank of Nigeria has taken the lead in providing a PayPal account services for all Nigerians.

Online via Skrill platform & Digital Currency

How to Send Money Abroad via Skrill

Sending money abroad online without visiting a bank is very easy. And this is the best and convenient way of sending money abroad. One of the online financial platforms that will enable you to send money abroad online is Skrill.

Here is how to send money abroad online via Skrill:

• Visit Skrill official website and create an account
• Verify your account using your National ID card and utility bill
• Upload funds into your account using your Debit card
• Select “Send money” and input your recipient Skrill email address

Please Note: You can only send money to a recipient who has Skrill account. And only some few countries bank accounts abroad accept Skrill deposit. You can read more about Skrill account in Nigeria.

How to send money abroad via Digital currency transfer

This method of sending money abroad from Nigeria is relatively new. A typical digital currency I’ll be using as an example is a cryptocurrency stable coin (USDT).  To send money abroad via digital currency transfer:

• Visit any cryptocurrency exchange website platform (e.g Binance )
• Sign up and complete their KYC
• Upload fiat currency using your debt card
• Buy USDT coins using the fiat currency or through P2P
• Send the USDT to your recipient abroad

Note: For this to work, your recipient needs to have a digital wallet you’ll transfer the money to. So, ask your money receiver to open a digital wallet that accepts USDT coin.

With any of the above 5 options, you comfortably send abroad from Nigeria. If you find any of those5 ways of sending money outside Nigeria difficult, lets know where you have challenge. You can use the comment box below to ask your questions and comments.

Related articles on how to send money abroad from Nigeria;

• Ria Money Transfer in Nigeria; Send Money & Receive
• (WU) How to send money through Western Union & Recent CBN Guideline
• How to send money from USA to Nigeria
• How to receive money in Nigeria from abroad & withdraw it