Recently there has been disclaimers issued by some of the commercial banks concerning two money transfer companies namely Azimo and TransferWise. The first notice was from First Bank of Nigeria. Then Fidelity, Zenith and others followed.
Now the Central Bank of Nigeria has now issued a disclaimer also stating that:
“The attention of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been drawn to the activities of Messrs. Azimo and Messrs. TransferWise, both of which are purportedly transacting business, albeit unauthorised, as International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs).
The Bank wishes to notify the general public that neither Messrs. Azimo nor Messrs. TransferWise is licensed by the central Bank of Nigeria to operate as an International Money Transfer Operator (IMTO).
The Public is therefore advised to beware of the activities of Messrs. Azimo and Messrs. TransferWise and desist from patronising the companies forthwith. Anyone who patronizes the unregistered companies, does so at his or her own risk.”
As at the time of this report, Azimo still has Nigeria as one of the countries their customers can send money to.
People have been using Azimo and TransferWise for money transfers into Nigeria before now. So it would seem that there is an issue with the Central Bank and the companies over licensing.
Founded in 2012 by CEO Michael Kent, Azimo is an International Money Transfer company that facilitates money transfer to more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.
TransferWise is a London-based online money transfer service founded in January 2011 by Estonians Kristo Käärmann and Taavet Hinrikus. The company supports more than 750 currency routes across the world including GBP, USD, EUR, AUD and CAD, and provides multi-currency accounts
