By Dipo Olowookere
There is no reason to fear about getting international remittances in foreign currencies almost anywhere in Nigeria, the management of Access Bank Plc has assured its customers.
Recently, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said beneficiaries of diaspora money transfers would be able to get their funds in cash or transferred to the domiciliary accounts.
In the past, funds from international remittances were first converted to local currency before being handed over to beneficiaries in Nigeria.
This was because of a scarcity of foreign exchange (forex) in the country, but this action was hurting the Naira and gave room for speculators to have a field day.
In order to punish those sabotaging the nation’s economy, especially by hoarding FX to sell at a higher rate at the black market, the CBN had to review its policy on diaspora remittances.
In compliance with the latest development, Access Bank has said customers can visit any of its branches nationwide to receive funds sent from family and friends abroad in US Dollars effective immediately.
“As part of our promise to create value and meet the needs of our customers, we are happy to announce that our customers can now receive funds sent from the diaspora in Dollars at any of our branches nationwide.
“The funds will be available as cash pick-up or direct transfer into customers’ domiciliary accounts,” the Executive Director in charge of Retail Banking at Access Bank Plc, Mr Victor Etuokwu, was quoted as saying in a statement.
In the statement, Access Bank said its promise to deliver More than Banking services is even more critical at this time as customers are looking for convenient products and services that facilitate their lifestyle and our remittance services are available to both customers and non-customers of Access bank.
“We encourage Nigerians in the diaspora to take advantage of this season of giving, to send funds home for their loved ones, who in turn can receive either by opening an Access Bank domiciliary account or reactivate their inactive domiciliary account and the funds will be paid directly to their accounts or visit any of our 500 branches nationwide to receive their funds in USD cash.
“We maintain a strong relationship with Western Union, MoneyGram, Ria, WorldRemit, Transfast, Paysend, Shift, Sendwave and other international money transfer services and we are committed to delivering excellent service to all our customers,” Mr Etuokwu further said.
Aduragbemi Omiyale