Banks have begun opening dollar accounts for beneficiaries of remittances without one, in a bid to boost international payments and foreign exchange inflow in the country.
This is in adherence to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s order to banks to facilitate money transfers by automatically opening dollar accounts for those who do not currently have such, according to operators.
The order aimed to ensure that all international money transfers would be successfully processed even if senders entered naira account details for transactions.
According to the Central Bank of Nigeria, this applied to a $2,000 withdrawal limit.
The CBN said this was to ensure that transactions did not fail due to a recipient not having a dollar bank account.
It would also introduce transparency by guaranteeing that all recipients received an exchange rate that reflected the market rate.
The Country Manager, Nigeria and Ghana, at WorldRemit, Gbenga Okejimi, said, “We are very pleased by the CBN’s decision to mandate Nigerian banks to help citizens who do not have a USD account by automatically providing this facility on their behalf.
“This development will make all the difference to those who receive support from family and friends abroad.
“For our part, we are excited by the fact that we can continue to enable the transfer of remittances to more people across Nigeria whilst also supporting the Nigerian government in its efforts to strengthen the economy.
“When our founder came up with the idea to create WorldRemit, it was with the ultimate goal of ensuring that the diaspora community could send money back home easily and through a safe platform.”
WorldRemit recently announced the expansion of its US dollar payout option with nine of its existing bank partners.
