How to Send/Receive Money from Abroad – 11 Methods Explained

Have you ever thought of sending money from Nigeria to someone abroad, but don’t know how to go about it?

Not knowing how to send money abroad from Nigeria is a big issue and most online businesses fail as a result of this.

Even those who live abroad are also affected when they are stranded and their friends and family don’t know how to send them money from Nigeria.

So, whatever challenges you have on how you can send and receive money in Nigeria would be resolved after reading this guide.

There are various ways to send money from Nigeria to someone in other countries and this guide contains a detailed explanation that you need.

How to send money abroad from Nigeria

Sending money from Nigeria to the US or any other country is possible with the use of any accredited outbound money transfer service in Nigeria.

Meanwhile, here is the list of top best international money transfer operators in Nigeria.

• MoneyGram
• Western Union
• PayPal
• PayStack
• Neteller
• Payoneer
• Transferwise
• OFX
• World remit
• Skrill
• Xoom
• Domiciliary account

You should, however, note that all the money transfer platforms on this list are not arranged in any specific order.

Each platform has its own special features and advantages.

So, we would be looking at their services, fees, and how you can use them to send and receive money in the country.

1. Western Union

Western Union is another platform for sending and receiving money in Nigeria.

This company’s mode of operation is almost similar to that of MoneyGram.

The only difference is sending money abroad from Nigeria using Western Union is a little bit easier.

This is because Western Union has partnerships with many commercial Banks, which has made it very easy to send funds directly into the recipient’s bank account.

Steps to send and receive money in Nigeria with Western Union

If you want to use this platform to send money internationally, here are the things to do.

• Get the correct full name of the recipient (as contained in the recipient’s bank information).
• know the recipient’s full address and phone number.
• Know the recipient’s bank name, account number, and bank code, and lastly what the money is meant for.
• Provide a good reason for sending the money to the recipient.
• Have a valid national means of identification.
• Visit any Nigerian bank which is a Western Union Money Transfer agent.
• Some banks require you to have an account with them, some don’t. So your bank might be the right bank to approach if it partners with Western Union.
• Obtain a transfer form and fill it in with all the information above.

After doing this, the recipient will receive the money in his bank account using the same platform.

How to receive money from abroad in Nigeria with Western Union

The mode of receiving money from abroad using Western Union is similar to that of MoneyGram.

After the sender confirms sending the money to you, then you can take the following steps to receive the fund.

• Get the MTCN of the payment from the sender. This is contained in a slip given to the sender by the Western Union agent after sending the money.
• Visit your bank or any other nearest Western Union agent’s outlet in order to receive the fund.
• Then follow any other step as required.
• Find MTCN in Western Union Payment Slip

Read our article on: How to Track Western Union Money Transfer Online

Western Union is very fast, secure, and reliable. It has made it so very easy for people to send and receive money in Nigeria.

2. MoneyGram

MoneyGram is a transaction services platform that operates almost like Western Union.

You can use this platform to send money from Nigeria to any foreign country in the world.

MoneyGram is the world’s largest international money transfer company after Western Union.

It has over 350,000 agent locations, and extensions to more than 200 countries, of which Nigeria is not left out.

MoneyGram enables transactions such as fund transfers, payments, money orders and so many other financial services to people who want to transfer money across countries, or to people who don’t want to use normal commercial banking services.

Aside from using MoneyGram to send money abroad, you can equally top-up your mobile lines using the company’s prepaid card recharge services.

How to send money abroad from Nigeria using MoneyGram

The process of sending and receiving money using MoneyGram is here below.

• Locate any MoneyGram agent nearest to you.
• Bring along your ID, your recipient’s full name and address, the amount you want to send, and the service fee that will be demanded by the agent.
• Instead of sending the money to the recipient’s address, you can also choose to send it to his/her bank account, or also to his/her mobile wallet.
• You will be given a form or two to fill out, but either way, make sure that you fill out each question regarding the recipient’s details correctly.
• Submit the form to the agent, and give him the money you want to send. You will also hand over his service fee to him.

You are now done.

All that remains is for the recipient to receive the money.

Just like how people are given a transaction slip whenever they deposit in a bank, you will also be given an 8- digit reference number.

In case you are sending the money to the recipient’s address, then you have to send the 8-digit reference number to him/her.

This reference number will be needed before the money can be delivered to your recipient.

How to receive money from abroad in Nigeria using MoneyGram

You or whoever that is receiving money on this platform need to undergo the following steps:

• Bring along his/her government-issued ID.
• Get the 8-digit reference number given to the sender when he made the transfer from his end.
• Take the reference number along with you to the nearest MoneyGram agent’s location.
• Collect a receiver form, which you must fill out correctly in order to avoid being denied the money.
• Submit the form and allow the agent to confirm that the legal name provided by you correlates with the name provided by the sender.
• You will be given the money immediately if the information is correct.

In your own best interest, remember to go along with your driver’s license and a passport photograph, as those might be required, depending on the agent.

If the sender, however, sends the money directly to your bank account or mobile wallet, going to a cash outlet won’t be necessary, since the money would be in your bank account.

You can see that this is by far one of the best ways to send and receive money in Nigeria.

3. Paypal

It’s only someone who has not used an eCommerce website to buy a product or service before that won’t know what PayPal is.

It can also be used as a payment gateway which allows online merchants to receive funds from customers via their websites.

PayPal is an online financial platform that enables its users to make and receive payments from all over the world.

To send money abroad from Nigeria through PayPal, you have to create an account on the platform.

You can use the service through the PayPal website or mobile app.

But it’s unfortunate that for some years now, PayPal and some other online financial operators restricted users from receiving money from abroad in Nigeria.

This was associated with the speculation that most Nigerians took advantage of these platforms to perpetrate internet scams.

This could also be the reason why PayPal suspended Nigerian users from withdrawing funds from PayPal and receive in their bank accounts.

After a couple of research, people discovered how to create a PayPal account in Nigeria without being affected by the restrictions.

With that, anyone can now withdraw money from PayPal and pay directly into their various local bank accounts.

In case you don’t know how to do that, read on How to Set Up a PayPal Account to Receive Money in Nigeria.

How to send money abroad from Nigeria with PayPal

Using PayPal to send and receive money in Nigeria, all you need is a valid email address.

Then you can take the following steps.

• Create a PayPal account with your email address.
• Link your ATM card to your PayPal account.
• Login to your dashboard and click on the “send and request” button at the top of the page.
• Choose any of the three options that match your transaction type.
• Input the email address of the recipient.
• Input the amount of money that you would like to send to the recipient.
• Complete and correctly fill in all needed information.
• Click on the “send money now”.

Kindly note the following whenever you are sending money via PayPal.

If you are transferring outside Nigeria to another country of a different currency, you will be debited in naira.

For example, if you want to send $50 to a relative in the United States, the money will be deducted in naira from your bank account at the current exchange rate.

So, in your own interest, confirm that the email address of the recipient is correct to avoid stories that touch the heart.

This is because PayPal won’t refund you if the money gets into the wrong hands.

However, cancelation of transactions is possible if there is a conflict between you and the recipient and the recipient is at fault and not ready to amend.

If the recipient doesn’t have a PayPal account or is yet to sign up, he would be notified via email that a sum of money awaits him.

How to receive money from abroad in Nigeria with PayPal

If you want to receive money from abroad in Nigeria via PayPal, you would be required to also have a PayPal account.

You can follow the same way to create a PayPal account as discussed above.

Then make sure you use the same email address with which you received the fund to open your account.

Immediately after your account is created, you’ll have access to the fund.

The payment alert that you receive via your email will also explain how you’ll open your account on PayPal and receive the money being sent to you.

But that approach won’t work for Nigerian users because of the restrictions.

The best you can do to avoid the restrictions is to use our guide on how to open a PayPal account.

PayPal remains a very secure online money transfer platform that makes it very fast and comfortable to send and receive money in Nigeria.

4. PayStack

PayStack is one of the biggest and best payment gateways in Nigeria.

The services of PayStack allow users to send and receive money abroad via their debit card, credit card, mobile money, bank accounts, USSD, and others.

You can create payment links or invoices that you send to the person that wants to send you money, to use and facilitate the payment.

PayStack also allows you to withdraw money into your domiciliary accounts from the application.

Although the transfer charges vary depending on the sending and receiving country.

If you have an online store in Nigeria and need to receive international payments, PayStack will be very flexible for you to make use of.

5. Neteller

Neteller is a financial service provider that supplies individuals and financial enterprises with a fast and secure way of transferring money abroad from Nigeria.

This is one of the largest and most established money transfer platforms, and they do make over $1 billion worth of transactions every single year.

Neteller has its own E-wallet, and it’s very simple and easy to set up. It can be used for withdrawal, deposit or money transfer in Nigeria.

However, the amount of money you can send abroad using Neteller in Nigeria can’t be more than $50,000 per transaction.

How to transfer money abroad from Nigeria with Neteller

To send money from Nigeria using Neteller is a very simple and easy process.

• All you need is the recipient’s email address.
• Fund your neteller account with enough funds.
• Input the amount that is to be sent.
• Press on send.
• You will be debited, and your recipient’s Neteller account will be credited.

It is as simple as this.

How to receive money from abroad in Nigeria using Neteller

As for learning how to use this service to receive money, the following steps should be taken.

• If the recipient already has a Neteller account, he would be credited instantly.
• If the recipient is yet to open a Neteller account, he would be notified (by the email you inputted) that a certain amount of money has been sent to him, but he has to create a Neteller account in order to claim the money.

The email also comes with a comprehensive guide on how to open a Neteller account.

When it comes to sending money abroad from Nigeria, you can rely on Neteller.

Neteller, however, is a very secure and reliable outbound money transfer platform to send and receive money in Nigeria.

6. WorldRemit

WorldRemit is a very fast and reliable way to send money outside Nigeria to other countries.

The money you transfer with this outbound money transfer platform in Nigeria can be received in any WorldRemit accredited cash outlet present in any country.

WorldRemit offers four options when it comes to sending money outside Nigeria.

These include:

• Bank deposits; in which the transferred money will go directly into the recipient’s bank account.
• Cash pickups; where the transferred amount of money would be collected in cash by the recipient, at any nearest WorldRemit outlet.
• Mobile wallet; in which the money goes into an electronic wallet. The recipient may later decide to transfer the received money from his mobile wallet into his bank account if he wishes to do so.
• Airtime top-up; where you can do an airtime recharge for your recipient. You can also use this option to help them subscribe to a data bundle.

How to send money in Nigeria with WorldRemit

• Visit WorldRemit’s homepage.
• Select the country you are sending money to.
• Select how you would like to send it. You may want to send the money directly into the recipient’s account, into his mobile wallet or into a cash outlet nearest to his neighborhood.
• Input the amount of money you would like to send (in the recipient’s currency). The current exchange rates will be shown to you before it is being converted and deducted from your account.
• You will be directed to open an account before your transaction can be successful (that is if you haven’t opened a WorldRemit account before. If you already have an account, no need to create a new account. Just log in with your credentials).
• Enter your recipient’s information. This includes his full name, his phone number, home address, and his email address.
• Select how you want to pay. It may be from your bank account, your credit or debit card, or any other medium of payment.
• After all this is done, click on the send button.
• A transaction reference number will be displayed, indicating that the transaction is successful.

After you send the money, remember that I told you that a reference number will be displayed.

Get that number and send it to the recipient. This would be presented at the WorldRemit cash outlet by the recipient before he can claim the money.

How to receive money in Nigeria with WorldRemit

To receive and claim the money sent to you via WorldRemit outbound money transfer in Nigeria, do the following:

• Take along your valid government-issued passport, ID card or driver’s license.
• Take along the transaction reference number given to the sender.
• The recipient will receive the money within minutes.

However, kindly have it in mind that WorldRemit cash outlets are not available in all countries.

This is why you need to verify whether a cash outlet is present in your recipient’s country before sending the money.

If it later turns out that there is no cash outlet in the recipient’s country, then you have no choice but to send it directly to his bank account or his mobile wallet.

WorldRemit remains a very fast, secure, and reliable way of sending money abroad from Nigeria.

7. Transferwise

Transferwise is a new method of transferring money to your relatives outside Nigeria.

The service charge for using Transferwise, compared to others, is very small and minimal. This company charges 0.35% on every transaction you make across its platform.

This is what really makes Nigerians patronize this Transferwise when it comes to sending money to their relatives abroad.

How to send money in Nigeria with Transferwise

To send money through Transferwise, take the following steps:

• Create an account on Transferwise.
• Fund your account by using your debit card or via your local bank account.
  After opening a Transferwise account (within 3 to 5 minutes), select the country that you are sending the money to.
• Input your recipient’s bank account, the bank name, and the recipient’s legal full name (as it appears on his ID).
• Send the money in the currency used in the country the recipient stays.

How to receive money in Nigeria with Transferwise

You can equally use Transferwise to receive money in Nigeria. But the condition is that you can only receive the payment in Nigerian currency, except your account is a domiciliary account.

Otherwise, any payment made with Transferwise in another currency would be rejected.

So, ensure you give the sender your local bank account number.

For example, since the naira is what is used in Nigeria and someone wants to send money to you from the US, make sure you give the sender a bank account that uses the naira.

If the payment is made in any other currency apart from the naira, it would be rejected.

To receive money using Transferwise, other things to take note of include:

• You don’t need to have a Transferwise account.
• You can use your local bank account number to receive funds from abroad in Nigeria.
• You will be charged for the service fee.
• There is no limit to how much you can receive, except for payment in dollars.
• Transferwise doesn’t accept payments in cash or cheque.
• Once the money is received, you have the option of converting the money into any currency of your choice at the current exchange rate.

Transferwise is a very reliable and secure financial services platform for money transfer.

Hence you can use the platform as one of the best ways to send and receive money in Nigeria.

8. Payoneer

Payoneer is one of the best ways to send money abroad from Nigeria.

If you have a supplier, vendor, business partner, contractor, investor, or a seller in foreign countries, you can both have a transaction by using this platform.

This outbound money transfer company originated in New York in 2005 and enables its users to send and receive payments globally and internationally.

Payoneer allows Nigerians particularly to make use of its payment services to receive payments in dollars directly from American organizations or any foreign business.

This is just like having a US bank account while residing in Nigeria.

That sounds great right?

How to send money in Nigeria with Payoneer

To send money from Nigeria to foreign countries with Payoneer, you have to take the following steps:

• Create an account on Payoneer.
• Click on the payment option and that will direct you to the payment page.
• Choose whether you want to send the money to your recipient’s Payoneer account or local bank account.
• If the recipient wants to receive money through their Payoneer account, all you need is to input their email address and process the payment.

You may also need some other details.

Having checked and confirmed that all the information regarding the recipient’s account details is correct, then you can pay.

How to receive funds in Nigeria with Payoneer

You can receive money in Nigeria using Payoneer. Meanwhile, this operator offers two options in this regard. You can receive it on your Payoneer account or local bank account.

So, whatever option you choose must be communicated to the sender.

You should however note the following when using Payoneer:

• Before you can pay any recipient via Payoneer, you must have been receiving payment from order Payoneer users.
• Payoneer service has limitations, and that depends on the country that you are currently residing. A feature that is enabled and being used in the US might not be made available in Nigeria.
• Transactions to any recipient is free, as far as the conversion of currency is concerned.
• The recipient might not receive the payment until 2 hours after the sender transfers the money. And rare cases, it might take up to 2 business days.

Payoneer remains a very reliable financial platform for sending and receiving money between countries of different currencies.

9. OFX

OFX is another international and world-global transaction service platform that you can use to send and receive funds in Nigeria.

This company has its headquarters in Sydney, Australia.

OFX is a very secure and reliable way of sending money abroad from Nigeria.

There are many great features on this platform. And that makes it one of the amazing and most customer-friendly outbound money transfer platforms in Nigeria.

Advantages of OFX Money Transfer

• Their account setup is completely online and very easy to set up (within two to three minutes).
• They charge zero transaction fee for any money transfer, so far there is no conversion of currency.
• The money transfer window is open 24 hours each day, and 7 days a week (available 24/7).
• Their mobile app is very simple and easy to operate, and it is available for both Android and iOS.
• They provide very good customer-friendly plans and setups.

These are the main special features that are offered by OFX to their users.

But before explaining how to send money out of Nigeria using OFX, I will briefly explain some limitations and setbacks in OFX.

Features of OFX money transfer platforms

• OFX allows users to fund their OFX account only from their bank account, or by making a wire transfer. They don’t allow deposits in cash.
• Any money sent cannot be delivered to the recipient until 24 hours. Also, there is nothing like “overnight delivery” in OFX.
• OFX doesn’t have any cash outlet. As a result of this, all transactions on this platform are done online or on the telephone.
• OFX services are not available in a few countries.

Users of  OFX are restricted to a minimum transfer of $1000. No one can send below 1000 USD.

To send money abroad from Nigeria to a recipient residing in another country, the following steps are to be taken.

Steps to send money from OFX

• Open an OFX account.
• Input the recipient’s bank details.
• Lock in your transaction.
• Send the money to the recipient’s bank.
• Your recipient will receive the money in their bank account within one or two days.
• However, in rare cases involving a large amount of money (such as billions of dollars), it might take up to three to five days.

OFX doesn’t have a transaction limit, and that has made many entrepreneurs make great use of Its services in Nigeria and some other parts of the world.

10. Skrill

Skrill is an online payment platform with which you can make foreign transactions.

Skrill is not available in all countries, but Nigeria is, however, lucky to be included.

You can use this platform to send and receive money.

To send money abroad from Nigeria using this platform, you need to first open an account if you are yet to have one.

Fund your Skrill account with your debit card or local bank transfer.

Skrill also lets the recipient decide whether he wants to receive the money into his bank account or his mobile wallet.

12. Domiciliary account

This is by far the easiest and simplest way of sending money abroad from Nigeria.

A domiciliary account is a bank account that allows the owner to hold money in foreign currencies and is not restricted to only the naira currency.

Domiciliary account is mainly used by Nigerian entrepreneurs, mini importation businessmen, and individuals for direct transfer of money into foreign accounts.

Opening a domiciliary account may be for business transactions, emergency funds, donations, or any other purpose happening in a foreign country.

A special advantage that a domiciliary account offers is that it allows a large amount of money to be transferred abroad from Nigeria.

How to send money abroad from Nigeria by using a domiciliary account

The following steps should be taken:

• You would need a biometric verification number (BVN).
• You need any recent utility bill, like electricity bills or water bills.
• National ID card, voter’s card, or any means of identification.
• A recently photographed passport.
• You should then visit your bank and will be given an account opening form.
• Instead of ticking on the “savings account“ or “current account“ option, tick on the “domiciliary account “option.
• Fill out all your necessary details.
• The bank will then direct you on what to do next.

After your domiciliary account has been opened, you can now  send  money abroad from Nigeria in the following steps:

• Make sure you know the recipient’s bank account number, his bank account name, and the name of the bank.
• You should also know your recipient’s bank swift code and routing number.
• After this has been provided, you will then input the amount of money that the recipient is to receive (in the recipient’s currency).
• The amounts to be sent, for example; $50, will be debited from your account (in naira) at the current currency exchange rate.
• You will receive a notification informing you of the transaction’s success, within 2 to 3 days. The notification will also inform you of the amount debited from your account, and also the amount credited to the recipient’s account.

As I already said, a domiciliary account is the simplest and most convenient way of sending money abroad from Nigeria.

But because most foreigners would find it difficult to give you their bank account information, this mode of sending money abroad from Nigeria is not the best option for most people.

Conclusion on How to Send Money Abroad from Nigeria 

Now, I think you’ve discovered various ways to send and receive money in Nigeria.

After reading this post, you shouldn’t find it difficult to send money to someone outside the country again.

This guide doesn’t speak for any money transfer company.

You should know that.

So, before using any platform, make sure you read their terms and conditions, and also their privacy policy.

This will go a long way to guide you better on how to send money abroad from Nigeria cheaply.

You can also take a step further to read their customer reviews before making your decision.

Google provides great information about everything you’re looking for.

You can take advantage of this information to know the exact shortcomings of each platform before using them.

Nevertheless, each of the outbound money transfer platforms discussed in this guide offers great services to help you achieve your goals.

They are very fast and convenient to use for making an international money transfer in Nigeria.

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