The United Bank for Africa Plc and global Money Transfer giant, MoneyGram, have launched an outbound money transfer service in Nigeria.
The Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of UBA, Mr. Phillips Oduoza, became the first person to carry out MoneyGram outbound money transfer service from Nigeria, according to a statement on Monday. The MoneyGram outbound money transfer service allows Nigerians to send money abroad through any UBA branch in Nigeria or Africa or through any other MoneyGram Agent Bank while the funds are received in dollar or the currency of the receiving country, the bank said.
At the inauguration of the service, which held at UBA’s head office in Lagos, Oduoza was said to have had a live demonstration of how the service would work by sending money from Nigeria to Ghana. He sent naira, which was received in real time in Ghana Cedis by the CEO of UBA Ghana, according to the statement. Oduoza was quoted as saying during the event that the UBA and MoneyGram outbound money transfer service would boost trade and business between African countries.
This, he explained, was because many Nigerians, who do business across Africa, would no longer have to move around with cash as they can easily transfer money to their business partners in other African countries or in China, Europe and America to pay for goods and services bought. He described the new money transfer service – tagged ‘Naija Sends’ – as yet another testimony to the innovative, customer-centric disposition of both UBA and MoneyGram.
“This service opens a new vista of opportunity for Nigerians to easily trade with other Africans and also trade with other parts of the world. It also offers a great platform to send money to loved ones abroad. As Africa’s global bank, we are proud to partner with MoneyGram to make this service available. It opens a whole new world of opportunities for our customers,” Oduoza said.