The inflow of remittances from overseas into Nigeria accounts for an immense contribution to the economy. With technological advancement which has led to advancement in the means of sending money across the globe, one can conveniently make use of the several channels that abound to send money across continents quickly and securely without stress. In this article, some of these channels and the procedures involved in sending money from Canada to Nigeria would be addressed.
These are several options to send money from Canada to Nigeria:
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Remitly
Remitly is a digital remittance service that can be used to send money to Nigeria from Canada. There are various delivery methods employed by Remitly such as Bank deposits, Cash pickups, Home Delivery, and Mobile Money, that can be used in sending money overseas. To send money to a recipient in Nigeria from Canada begins with the creation of a free Remitly account, using either the Remitly mobile app or the Remitly website. After successful logging into the Remitly account, the sender is to input the amount of money intended to be sent. The next step is to select the delivery speed, either Express or Economy. The Express option is paid with credit cards and the transfer speed is instantaneous, however, additional fees accrue. The Economy option, of which the fees are lower, is paid with a bank account and takes between three to five days for the money to be received. Afterward, the sender selects the desired payment method and supplies the necessary information. Based on the payment method selected, it takes a few minutes to five working days to receive the money. The following financial institutions in Nigeria are eligible to receive money from Remitly; Guarantee Trust Bank, Polaris Bank, Fidelity Bank, Access Bank, First Bank, First City Monument Bank, Union Bank( now Titan Trust) and, United Bank for Africa. For Cash pick up, the recipient needs a valid picture identification and reference number to receive the money from any of the listed financial institutions above.
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Western Union
Western Union is another way to send money from Canada to Nigeria, and this can be done online with a smartphone or computer. To do this, the first step is to create an account with Western Union and verify the profile using a Driver’s license, passport, or government-issued identification. Thereafter, the sender would need to choose the amount to be sent and how the recipient would get the money, either bank account, agent location, or mobile wallet. The next step of the process is entering the recipient’s details. A bank account of the recipient and name is required for the Western Union bank deposit option, whereas, the recipient’s name and address would be required for a cash pickup. Then, the desired payment method from the options of Bank Account, Credit Card, or Debit Card, is selected by the sender. The final step to complete the procedure is to confirm and send. After sending, a unique MTCN can be used to track the transfer. It is pertinent to state that the processing fee varies according to the amount sent, method of payment, and delivery option selected.
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WorldRemit
WorldRemit is yet another means to send money to Nigeria from Canada. As a digital remittance service, WorldRemit offers customers a variety of options to send money to loved ones across the globe such as Bank account deposits, Cash pickup, Airtime top-up, and Mobile wallets. The steps involved in sending money from Canada to Nigeria using WorldRemit would be described shortly. The first thing to do is to sign up for the WorldRemit portal. To do this, certain information about the sender, as well as a Government-issued document are required to create an account on WorldRemit. Upon successful signup, the WorldRemit account is eligible to perform transactions. As stated above, there exist various ways to send money to Nigeria using WorldRemit, and they require peculiar procedures.
The Cash pickup option, which refers to a payment that can be collected by a recipient as physical cash from any supported location within the WorldRemit’s local partner network, is a straightforward process. The first step is to log in to the WorldRemit portal, then start a new transfer. Then, Nigeria is selected as the country that the money is to be sent. Thereafter, USD Cash Pickup is selected as the pay-out method, and the recipient’s details are subsequently provided. The recipient’s full name, address, mobile number, and sending reason are provided by the sender before finalizing the payment, either from a bank account, credit, or debit card. Within minutes, the recipient in Nigeria can visit any of these financial institutions to receive the money: Access Bank, FCMB, Fidelity Bank, First Bank, Polaris Bank, GTCO, Union Bank, and UBA. The recipient is expected to go along with either an international passport, Bank Verification Number (BVN), Driver’s license, or Permanent Voters Card (PVC) as means of identification.
Sending money directly into the recipient’s bank account in Nigeria requires a different approach. After logging into the WorldRemit portal, and confirmation of cleared funds available in the sender’s account. The next step is to input the details of the recipient’s Nigerian account. It is important to note that only USD domiciled Nigerian bank accounts are eligible to receive funds from Canada via WorldRemit. The recipient’s details to be provided include, full name, address, account details, mobile number, and Bank Verification Number (BVN). Also, the reason for sending the money is required to be provided by the sender. The last step reveals the exchange rate of the Canadian Dollar (CAD) to the Nigerian Naira (NGN), and the transfer can be completed. It takes minutes for the recipient in Nigeria to receive notification of payment.
Generally, the fees charged by WorldRemit are quite affordable, and there are no hidden charges.
Conclusion
Aside from the above-mentioned, there exist more channels for sending money from Canada to Nigeria abound, some of which include Sendwave, Ria, Paypal, MoneyGram, Wise, among others.