Money Transfer - Afrikan Heroes

These Payments Companies Are Now Allowed To Carry Out International Money Transfer In Nigeria

March 22, 2021

International money transfer can now be done in Nigeria as the country’s central bank has released a list of operators allowed to carry out the operation in the West African country. Noticeably, the list left out startups like Chipper Cash, among others. CBN’s latest step comes on the heels of its recent order to Mobile Money Operators and Payment Switch providers to suspend the receiving of remittances or the integrating of their systems with International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs). The bank has also been whitewashing its recent order to Nigerian money deposit banks to block accounts of cryptocurrency traders, with a senior central bank official quoted recently as saying that “the CBN did not place restrictions from use of [sic] cryptocurrencies and we are not discouraging people from trading in it. What we have just done was to prohibit transactions on cryptocurrencies in the banking sector.”

LIST OF APPROVED INTERNATIONAL MONEY TRANSFER OPERATORS AS AT FEBRUARY 28, 2021
SN	OPERATOR	ADDRESS
1	AFTAB CURRENCY EXCHANGE LIMITED	Pall Mall Court, 61-67 King Street, Manchester, M2 4PD, United Kingdom
2	AZIMO LIMITED	173 Upper Street London, NI IRG United Kingdom
3	BELYFTED LIMITED	44 Whalebone Lane South Dagenham, Essex RMB 1BB, United Kingdom
4	CAPEREMIT UK LIMITED	47 Stanley Road Stevenage Hertfordshire SG2 OEE United Kingdom
5	CASHPOT LIMITED	157, Deptford High Street SE8 3NU, London United Kingdom
6	CENTREXCARD LIMITED	Unit 46, Dartford Business Park (Basepoint) Victoria Road, Dartford DA1 5FS, Kent, UK
7	CHIME INC.	239 East 5th Street Suite 4B New York, NY 10003 United States
8	COLONY CAPITAL LIMITED	Plot 5 Chief Yesefu Abiodun Way Oniru, Victoria Island Lagos
9	CP EXPRESS LIMITED	346 Barking Road London, E13 8HL
10	DT&T CORPORATION LIMITED	3 Harbour Exchange Square London E14 9GE
11	eTRANZACT LIMITED	4th & 5th Floors, Fortune Tower 27/29 Adeyemo Alakija Street Victoria Island Lagos
12	FIEM GROUP LLC DBA PING EXPRESS	1327, Empire Central Drive St. 110-6 Dallas Texas
13	FIRST APPLE INC.	6492 Landover Road Suite A1 Landover MD20785 Cheverly, USA
14	FLUTTERWAVE TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS LIMITED	8 Providence Street, Lekki Phase 1 Lagos
15	FORTIFIED FRONTS LIMITED in Partnership with e-2-e PAY LIMITED	#15 Glover Road Ikoyi, Lagos
16	FUNDS & ELECTRONIC TRANSFER SOLUTION	No. 15, Cameron Road, Ikoyi, Lagos
17	FUNTECH GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS LIMITED	Clarendon House 125 Shenley Road Borehamwood Heartshire WD6 1AG United Kingdom
18	GLOBAL CURRENCY TRAVEL & TOURS LIMITED	1280 Ashton Old Road Manchester, M11 1JJ United Kingdom
19	HOMESEND S.C.R.L	Rue des Colonies 56, 6th Floor-B1000 Brussels Belgium
20	IDT PAYMENT SERVICES INC.	520 Broad Street USA
21	IMMUEUBLE WARI LIMITED	20 Rue Amadou Assane Ndoye 7 Etge BP 32 368 Dakar Dakar Senegal
22	INTERSWITCH LIMITED	Plot 1648C Oko-Awo Close Victoria Island Lagos
23	MAKEBA INC.	85, Broad Street, 18^th FI New York, NY 10004
24	MONEYGRAM	Africa Re-Insurance Building 1679, Karimu Kotun Victoria Island, Lagos
25	NAIRA GRAM LLC operating in Nigeria as NGN GRAM LIMITED	24b Femi Okunnu Phase 2, Lekki Lagos State
26	NIGERIAN POSTAL SERVICE (NIPOST)	P.M.B 12537, Garki Abuja
27	NOUVEAU MOBILE LIMITED	c/o 31B Oyeleke Street Alausa Ikeja, Lagos
28	PAGATECH LIMITED	176 Herbert Macaulay Way Yaba, Lagos
29	PAYCOM NIGERIA LIMITED	Plot 8, Dr. Nurudeen Olowopopo Avenue Alausa, Lagos
30	PAYPAL INC.	#2211 North First Street San Jose, CA95131 United States of America
31	REMIT HUB CAFÉ LIMITED	175 Chesterton Road Cambridge, CB4 1AF United Kingdom
32	REMITLY INC.	111 Third Avenue Suite 2100 Seattle, WA 98101 United States
33	RIA FINANCIAL	1 Allées Seydou Nourou TALL POINT E Dakar – Senegal
34	SHIFT FINANCIAL SERVICES LIMITED	No.1 Goba Close (Suite 3), Off Monrovia Street Off Aminu Kano Crescent Wuse 2, Abuja
35	SIMPLIFY INTERNATIONAL SYNERGY LIMITED	No. 18, A-Close, 14 Road Gwarimpa, Abuja

36	SMALL WORLD FINANCIAL SERVICES GROUP LIMITED	Antonio Inesta Units 3&4 Sycamore Court Royal Oak Yard 168-170 Bermondsey Street SE1 3TQ, London
37	TCF LIMITED	2A Osborne Road Pees Galleria, Suite 4 Ikoyi, Lagos
38	TRANS-FAST REMITTANCE LLC	44 Wall Street, Suit 400 New York, NY10005 USA
39	TRANSFERTO MOBILE FINANCIAL SERVICES LIMITED (THUNES)	London Iron House London SE1 1UN United Kingdom
40	VENTURE GARDEN NIGERIA	Plot E, Ziatech Road Oregun, Ikeja Lagos
41	VOLOPA FINANCIAL SERVICES (SCOTLAND) LIMITED	Maclay Murray & Spens LLP 1 George Square, Glasgow, G2 1AL
42	VTNETWORK LIMITED	No.5 Beckley Street, Off Adeyi Avenue Old Bodija, Ibadan Oyo State
43	WEBLINK INTERNATIONAL LIMITED	The Enterprise Centre (Unit 1) Hastings Road, Bromley Kent BR2 8NA, London
44	WESTERN UNION	7^th Floor, Shore 13 1100 Boulevard Al Qods-Quartier Sidi Maarouf 20270 Casablanca- Morocco
45	WORLDREMIT LIMITED	2nd Floor, 62 Buckingham Gate London SW1E 6AJ
46	XPRESS MONEY SERVICES LIMITED	Office #426, 1 Olympic Way Wembley HA9 ONP London, UK
47	XPRESS PAYMENT SOLUTIONS LIMITED	23, Oba Akinjobi Way Ikeja GRA Lagos

Money transfer Nigeria Money transfer Nigeria

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer

Central Bank of Kenya Ends Free Mobile Money Transfers From January 1, 2021

December 20, 2020

The Central Bank of Kenya has put an end to the era of free mobile-money transfers below Ksh.1000 ($9) with effect from January 1, 2021. According to CBN, the measure will not be extended anymore. The implication of this is that customers will be required to now pay transaction fees for transfers below Ksh.1000, but not below Ksh.100. Additionally, mobile money-to-bank transactions are equally set to be free. In March this year, the CBK waived fees for mobile money transactions of up to Ksh.1000. This saw several digital transactions record their best year yet.

What Does The New Rule State?

The statement from the Central Bank of Kenya reads as follows:

“CBK has reassessed the emergency measures with the objective of consolidating the gains made so far and also facilitate a transition towards sustainable growth of the mobile money ecosystem. Following consultations with Payment Service Providers (PSPs), CBK will allow the emergency measures to expire on December 31, 2020, and PSPs will introduce revised pricing structures from January 1, 2021, with the following elements:

There will be no charge for person-to-person transfers of up to Ksh.100 to any customer and network.
There will be no charges for transfers between mobile money wallets and bank accounts.
To facilitate the integration of Savings and Credit Societies (SACCOs) with the mobile money ecosystem, SACCOs regulated by the Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority (SASRA) may levy a charge for transfers between SACCO accounts and mobile money wallets. CBK will oversee these charges in the context of the products that banks and PSPs offer to SACCOs.
Going forward, PSPs will propose pricing structures that reflect the “Pricing Principles” that CBK has introduced. These “Principles” aim to support the development of an efficient, safe, and stable payments and mobile money ecosystem where the customer and public interests are adequately protected. It is noted that the wallet and transaction limits that were announced on March 16, 2020, will remain in force as was communicated earlier. CBK will continue to monitor developments in the payments ecosystem and take any necessary actions.”

*More than half of the mobile money accounts in sub-saharan Africa are in the MPesa-dominated East Africa. Source: GSMA*

Central bank kenya mobile money Central bank kenya mobile money

What Does This Mean For Fintech Startups In Kenya?

The new rule will affect fintech startups in Kenya, particularly those into mobile money operations.

“The values transacted during the period increased significantly from the previous quarter following the Governments directive on the use of cashless payment systems to curb the spread of COVID-19,” noted the Communications Authority of Kenya.

The end of the waiver, noted Genghis Capital Equities Analyst Gerald Muriuki, would therefore mean that Kenya will not see the same volume and value in the transaction when the accompanying costs return.

“In the short-term, we may not see the volumes we have been seeing thus year, but in the longer term, there exists a case for more cashless transactions,” he said.

“The future will feature a more cashless environment as seen in the emergence of new digital currencies.”

According to CBK, mobile money subscriptions in Kenya stood at 64 million in September, 2020. This is against a lower sum of 59.4 million in April, 2020 while the number of transactions hit 163.3 million from 125 million within the same period.

The value of mobile transactions as of September meanwhile touched a high of Ksh.483.2 billion from a low Ksh.308 billion in April.

Additional the number of mobile-money agents expanded to 263,200 from 242,275.

According to data from the Communications Authority (CA) covering the period between April and June, all mobile-money transfer values including person to person, and customer to business grew on the back of the fees waiver.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer

Bank of Ghana Removes Charges on Money Transfer Below GH¢100

March 19, 2020

Governor, bank of Ghana, Dr Ernest Addison

The Ghanaian government has released series of programmes aimed to help mitigate the impact of the Corona Virus disease in the country. One of such incentives is the removal of all forms of charges on money transfer of GH¢100 ($18) and below which analysts believe is aimed at alleviating the effects on the poor people. The Bank of Ghana (BoG) in a statement said that there will be no charges on all mobile money transfers of GH¢100 and below from both banks and mobile network operators for the next three months. This new policy which is subjected to review will commence Friday, March 20, 2020.

BoG noted that the policy applies to money transfers to recipients on either the same network or sent to another network using the interoperability platform. Cash out have been excluded from this service. In a statement issued by the central bank, it stated that “the Bank of Ghana has agreed with banks and mobile network operators on measures to facilitate more efficient payments and promote digital forms of payments for the next three months, subject to review, effective March 20, 2020.”

Meanwhile, the daily transaction limits for users have been increased, and all mobile phone subscribers are now permitted to use their already existing mobile phone registration details to be onboard for Minimum KYC Account. This action taken by the telcos is to restrict the movements of customers and also to prevent them from contracting the global pandemic, coronavirus.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry