MoneyGram and Nigeria’s Guaranty Trust Bank this morning announced the launch of MoneyGram’s receive services across the GT Bank network. This service will be available through MoneyGram’s cash to account service.
In a statement made available to Innovation Village, the partnering organizations said customers in Nigeria can now receive money from friends and family in 129 countries directly into their personal GT Bank accounts within minutes. These funds can be accessed as customers would normally do on all deposits into their accounts either in person, online or through an ATM.
MoneyGram CEO Alex Holmes and GT Bank general manager, operations division, Tayo Asupoto made the announcement during a signing ceremony at the Intercontinental Hotel in Lagos.
“Remittances are crucial to Nigeria’s economy. Nigerians living abroad sent more than $21 billion back into the country in 2015,” said Holmes. “MoneyGram’s account deposit service makes it easy and convenient for both the sender and the receiver to transfer and receive funds. We are pleased to work with GT Bank and we are proud to be connected to almost 1.5 billion bank accounts in five of the world’s largest remittance receive markets — Nigeria, China, India, Mexico and the Philippines.”
“This collaboration with MoneyGram is a reflection of the bank’s commitment to building strategic partnerships that birth innovative financial solutions and provide our customers with a superior banking experience,” said Asupoto. “With the account deposit service, our customers can receive money transfers via MoneyGram in minutes.”
Remittance is the second largest source of foreign exchange in Nigeria after the oil sector. According to the World Bank, Nigeria accounts for around two-thirds of total remittance inflow to Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2015, an estimated $21 billion flowed into the country. An estimated $5.7 billion was sent from the United States while about $3.7 billion was sent from the United Kingdom. Other key corridors include Cameroon ($2,4 billion), Italy ($1 billion), and Ghana ($0,8 billion).
