Do you need a code to recharge, buy Airtime or top-up your mobile phone directly from your WEMA bank, Unity Bank or Stanbic IBTC bank account? Do you want to recharge your phone without looking for Airtime vendors or somewhere to buy physical recharge card?

As I promised I will continue to update you on the mobile airtime recharge codes for all banks in Nigeria as the codes are made available.

If you have been following us here, you would notice that in my earlier posts; I listed;

• the airtime recharge code for ECO Bank, Sky Bank & FCMB.
• the airtime recharge code for Access bank.
• the airtime recharge code for GTbank.
• the airtime recharge code for Fidelity bank, Firstbank, UBA and Zenith bank.

As more banks in Nigeria roll out their mobile airtime recharge codes, I will list them here. Today, I will show you;

• How to recharge your phone directly from your WEMA bank account using USSD code
• How buy airtime from Unity Bank
• Airtime recharge code for Stanbic IBTC bank

Here below is quick mobile airtime recharge code for buying airtime directly from WEMA, Unity and Stanbic IBTC banks.

WEMA Bank, Unity Bank, Stanbic IBTC and their Mobile Recharge Codes

• Stanbic IBTC bank mobile recharge code

The stanbic IBTC Bank Airtime recharge code is *909* Airtime Amount #. With the mobile phone number registered or linked to your IBTC bank account, dial the code; *909*AirtimeAmount# to recharge your phone.

For example; if you want to recharge N200 airtime on your phone, dial *909*200# and your phone will be credited instantly

• Unity Bank mobile recharge code

Unity Bank Airtime recharge code is *322*215*Airtime Amount#
With the mobile phone number registered or linked to your Unity bank account, dial the code; *322*215*Airtime Amount# to recharge your phone.

For example; if you want to recharge N500 airtime on your phone, dial *322*215*200#

• WEMA bank mobile recharge code

WEMA Bank Airtime recharge code is *322*035*Airtime Amount#. With the mobile phone number registered or linked to your WEMA bank account, dial this code; *322*035*Airtime Amount#
For example; if you want to recharge N400 airtime on your phone, dial *322*035*400#. Your phone will be credited instantly.

NB. These banks may require a sought of activation before you can begin to use the service even if your phone number is tied/linked to your bank account. You may still receive an error message or one like this; YOU HAVE NOT BEEN PROVISIONED FOR THIS SERVICE. PLESAE CONTACT YOUR BANK FOR MORE INFORMATION if your phone number has not been activated to use the service. However, if you have previously receive a message from your bank telling you that you can use the service.

Is there any hidden Charge Attached to this service?
No!

Any Benefit Buying Airtime using bank USSD Code
YES!

i. It is quick and convenient.
ii. You can recharge from the comfort of your home, office and in fact anywhere.

For comments and questions, you can use the comment box below.

Enjoy!

• Fidelity bank money transfer code
• 770 Fidelity bank Money Transfer code through mobile phones

Fidelity Bank Plc has finally launched money transfer service code which enables all Fidelity customers to conveniently transfers money from their Fidelity bank account to any other bank other bank account in Nigeria by simply dialling a short code.

In my earlier post, I showed you how to transfer money from GTbank to GTbank and other Bank account using code. Today, I will show you how to transfer money from your Fidelity bank account to any other bank account using a text code directly from your mobile phone.

The Fidelity bank money transfer service code has been introduced to facilitate the success of One Click Top –up in which all Fidelity bank customers send instant money transfers directly from their mobile phone irrespective of no internet connection or the type of phone in use.

HOW TO TRANSFER MONEY FROM FIDELITY BANK TO OTHER BANK ACCOUNT

To transfer money from Fidelity bank account to another bank account, simply dial this code *770*Account number*Amount#; this is the Code to transfer money from Fidelity bank to any other bank.

 Example; if you want to transfer N1000 to your Firstbank account, dial *770*3016125703*1000# from the mobile number registered/linked with your Fidelity Bank account.

 Then select the beneficiary bank Name (First bank).
Access bank
First bank
UBA etc

 Account validation and PIN selection are required by your bank/Issuer for this type of transaction. Enter your NUBAN Account number (Fidelity bank account number) to continue the transfer.

 Select a 4-digit PIN for your account.

• The recipient account number will be shown to you before you enter the last four digits of your debit card. This lets you verify that you’re not sending money to a wrong account.
• If you have two accounts with Fidelity bank, let say current and saving account and you’re using the same phone number for both account, your current account will be debited first before your savings account.

 Wait for the transaction to be completed.

 You will automatically receive debit alert indicating that your transfer was very successful.

IS THERE TRANSFER LIMIT?
• Transfer per transaction is N10K
• Maximum transfer per day is N20K

IS THERE ANY CHARGE ATTACHED TO THIS SERVICE?

• Normal transfer charge is applied.

Beat the queue and make that urgent transfer to any bank account using simple Fidelity bank money transfer code

As more banks in Nigeria roll out their money transfer code , I will ensure I keep you updated.

For questions or comments concerning Fidelity bank money transfer service code, you can use the comment box below or visit fidelity bank official website; www.fidelitybankplc.com

Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN has ban Deposits into Domiciliary Accounts

According to paper signed by Olakanmi Gbadamosi, the director of trade and exchange;

 ‘The Central Bank of Nigeria has considered the recent statements by Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) concerning the large volume of foreign currencies in their vaults and the decision to stop accepting foreign currency cash deposits into customers’ domiciliary accounts.

 The CBN hereby prohibits from the date of this circular the acceptance of foreign currency cash deposits by DMBs in its continued efforts to stop illicit financial flows in the Nigerian banking system which aligns with the anti-money Laundering stance of the Federal Government.
 Foreign currency cash lodgements made prior to the date of this circular, the account holder has the option to either withdraw his or her foreign currency cash or the Naira equivalent.

 Only wire transfers to and from Domiciliary Accounts are henceforth permissible.
 The CBN advises individuals that wish to source foreign currency for eligible and legitimate purposes such as BTA, PTA medical, mortgage, school fees, goods etc. to do so through recognized channels with the use of Form ‘A’ for ‘invisible’ and Form ‘M’ for ‘visible: transactions’.

So, what do all these imply?

1. No Nigeria bank accepts foreign currency or what?
2. You can’t withdraw foreign currency in Nigeria. Is this one true also. Ok, don’t worry in my next post, I will show you ‘How to withdraw foreign currency in Nigeria’

Do you want to know how to receive money sent to you from abroad? Are you an investor, Nigeria-in-Diaspora, businessman, importer or exporter who is thinking of how to send money to Nigeria from UK, United State, India, Pakistan, Cameroun, Ghana , South Africa, Philippines, Malaysia, Canada, Europe, China, Dubai, Germany, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, London, UAE , USA, Australia, Turkey, India, Congo, etc to bank account in Nigeria?

Initially, to receive money or withdraw fund transfer in Nigeria is easier compare to sending money from Nigeria to abroad. However, with the recent CBN guideline on inbound and outbound international money transfer services; it is almost practically possible for one to receive and withdraw foreign currency in Nigeria. Many Nigerians and non-Nigerians are seeking an easy means to receive or send money to Nigeria. Everything I’m going to discuss here therefore will go in two related directions: how to send money to Nigeria and how to receive money sent to Nigeria from abroad. It will also cover these;
• how to send money from Zimbabwe to Nigeria
• how to send money from Tunisia to Nigeria
• how to send money from turkey to Nigeria
• how to send money from Spain to Nigeria
• how to receive money in Nigeria through Domiciliary account
• how to send money from Singapore to Nigeria
• how to send money from Russia to Nigeria
• how to send money from Qatar to Nigeria
• how to receive money through MoneyGram in Nigeria
• how to transfer money from PayPal to Nigeria
• how to send money from Namibia to Nigeria
• how to send money from Mexico to Nigeria
• how to transfer money from London to Nigeria
• how to send money from Kuwait to Nigeria
• how to send money from Japan to Nigeria
• how to send money from Iran to Nigeria
• how to receive Ria money transfer in Nigeria
• how to transfer money to Nigeria from India
• how to send money to Nigeria from UK
• how to transfer money from Malaysia to Nigeria
• how to receive money online in Nigeria
• how to send money from Egypt to Nigeria
• How to receive money in Nigeria through Western union money transfer, etc.

In one of my earlier post, I show you how to send money from Nigeria to other country. I promised in article that I will show you how to receive money (foreign currency) here in Nigeria from abroad especially now that the government has ban deposit and withdrawal of foreign currency in all Nigeria banks. One thing is to send money to Nigeria; the other is to receive the money. Our major goal here is to establish an authority on the legitimate means or ways of sending money to Nigeria and receiving the money. I have also received questions like;
• how to buy foreign currencies in Nigeria
• how to sell foreign currencies in Nigeria
• How to withdraw foreign currency in Nigeria from DOM account. These are issues that I will also address in this article.

On early August this year, barely one year after introduction of the revised guidelines on outbound International Money Transfer Services by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), CBN ban deposit and withdrawal of foreign currencies. Therefore, receiving cash inflow in Nigeria these days goes with some pinch of salt. Today in this article, I will show you how to receive money sent to Nigeria from any part of the country in the world; UK, United State, India, Cameroun, Ghana, South Africa, Uganda, USA, Canada, Europe, Kenya, Philippines, UAE, Malaysia, Germany, Dubai, Indonesia, Jamaica, China, Pakistan, etc.

To start, if you living outside Nigeria and you are thinking of sending money to your relatives, business partner, making payment for transactions or tuitions in Nigeria; here below are four best options you can use to send money to Nigeria from abroad.

How to send money to Nigeria from abroad

I know that there many ‘money agencies’ or third parties (International Money Transfer Service Operators, IMTOs ) who are involve in inbound international money transfer service in Nigeria. Such IMTOs include but not limited to; Worldremit, Smallwordfs, Transfast, Remittanceprices, etc. However, I wouldn’t want to talk about them because changes in government policies adversary affect their activities.

So, the four best options of sending money to Nigeria from abroad are;
• Western Union Money Transfer
• Bank wire transfer to Domiciliary account
• MoneyGram International transfer
• PayPal money transfer

So, whether you are in Singapore, Russia, Qatar, Namibia, Mexico, London, Kuwait, Japan, Iran, Egypt, etc; you can send money to Nigeria via any of these four means depending on your location.

How to receive money in Nigeria from abroad

How you will receive the money sent you in Nigeria depends on what means the money is being sent. However, my interest here is to show you how to receive the money direct into your Bank account in Nigeria and also how to withdraw it if you want.

There are four best options of receiving money in Nigeria from abroad into your bank account;

1. International Bank wire transfer direct into Domiciliary account
2. Quickteller through western Union to your bank account
3. Western union money transfer into your bank account
4. MoneyGram into your bank account

How to receive money in Nigeria from abroad through domiciliary account

There are many banks in Nigeria that operate domiciliary account. Among the banks are Gtbank, Diamond Bank, First Bank, Zenith Bank, UBA etc. To receive money in Nigeria through international bank wire transfer into DOM account, you need to have or open a domiciliary in Nigeria. You can open a domiciliary with any of the above bank but GTbank DOM account and Diamond bank DOM account are my best options.

Read: How to open a domiciliary account with Gtbank, Firstbank and Zenith bank

Once you open a domiciliary account, your sender can send the money direct into your domiciliary account. All that is required from you is to ensure that send your correct bank details including account name, account number, name of the bank and branch name, SWIFT CODE, Routing Number to the money sender. These you can easily get from your bank.
You will receive a deposit alert within 48hours if the transfer is successful depending on the location of the sender.

How to withdraw foreign currency from domiciliary account in Nigeria

To withdraw the money, banks in Nigeria don’t pay in foreign currency this recent time due the current CBN Guideline but if you have an existing savings account or current account in that bank, write a letter of request to the Manager of the bank authorizing them to send the money into your savings or current account. The transfer will be done within 30 minutes after authentication. Even if you don’t have savings or current account, open one and do this. Once, the money is transferred into your savings or current account; you can withdraw it with your ATM card or direct from cashier payment desk.

How to receive money in Nigeria from abroad via Quickteller using Western Union

To receive money in Nigeria via Quickteller through western Union to your bank account;
• Register or create an account on Quickteller.com
• “Log on to Quickteller.com
• Click the on the Send and Receive Money tile
• Click the Western Union tile
• Select your bank, either GTBank, StanbicIBTC or Wema bank
• Under “Choose currency” select “Naira”
• Click “Receive money now” and the Western Union – Receive Money data page opens
• Now carefully enter the following details:
• The MTCN (Money Transfer Control Number) as provided by the sender
• Sender’s Country
• Receiving account number i.e. your bank account number where you wish to receive the funds
• Receiving account type i.e. either current or savings
• Expected Amount in Naira as provided by the sender
• Under Receiving Currency leave the name of the bank and Naira as default.
• First Name (Receiving Account) which is your account first name as it appears at your bank
• Surname (Receiving Account) which is your account surname as it appears at your bank
• Mobile Number – your mobile number
• Answer to test question as provided by the sender
• Click “Continue”
• Confirm the details provided”

NB: A. for Western Union transfers; you can only receive your funds where the sender states you are to receive it.
B. Western Union Money Transfers can only be received in Naira. The sender should inform you of the Naira equivalent together with the other details. It is this Naira equivalent that you will enter and receive into your account once the transfer is successful.

How to receive money in Nigeria through Western union money transfer

Virtual all the 22 licensed banks in Nigeria serve as agents to Western Union in provision of Inbound Money Transfer Services. I will use firstbank western union transfer as a typical example to show you how to receive money in Nigeria bank through western union money transfer.

How to receive money in Nigeria through Firstbank’s western union money transfer

When it comes to Sending or Receiving money to and from abroad, Firstbank of Nigeria has proven to be reliable. With their 19 years of partnership with Western Union, they have a better edge in the market.
To receive money in Nigeria through Firstbank’s western union money transfer, First bank will require the following items from you for identification; International Passport, Driver’s License Permanent Voters card and National Identity Card.
• The Money Transfer Control Number (MTCN)
• Expected Amount
• Acceptable means of identification (see documentation required)
• The receiver’s name, address and phone numbers
• Sender’s name and country (city to be included for transfers coming from the US and Mexico)
• Maximum send amount as stipulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria is 5000usd naira equivalent per sender.
• Test Question and Answer where applicable.

Once, you are done, request that the money be send to your bank account. These are also applicable to other banks in Nigeria
How to receive money in Nigeria through MoneyGram
Banks like Ecobank, UBA, First Bank, Access Bank, Sterling Bank, Fidelity Bank, Skye Bank, Keystone Bank, Enterprise Bank, Mainstreet Bank, Diamond Bank and Wema Bank, among others financial institution offer MoneyGram service in Nigeria. However, my best option is UBA moneygram.
How to receive money in Nigeria through UBA MoneyGram
To receive money in Nigeria through UBA moneygram
Visit any UBA marketing desk close to you. You will be given a form to fill. You will be required to supply the following information on the form:
• An 8-digit reference number
• Sender’s name & country of origin
• Receiver’s name, address and telephone number
• Valid means of identification
• Test question and answer.

Fill the form correctly and wherever you are confused, ask question.
One you are done, request that the money be send to your bank account.

With any of the above four means, you comfortably receive money in Nigeria from abroad. They are all relatively easy and simple.

If you finding any of those four ways of receiving money in Nigeria difficult, lets know where you have problem. You can use the comment box below to ask your questions and comments

I want to use this post to guide you on how send money through western union from Nigeria and to answer all the questions that were asked on this article; how to send money from Nigeria to another country as regards to the recent CBN policy changes on Western Union money transfer service.

August last year, many Nigerians at home and in Diaspora were rejoicing over the introduction of the revised guidelines for International Money Transfer Services by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) which allows provision of Outbound Money Transfer services in the country. With the provision of outbound money transfer service, sending or transferring money through western union from Nigeria now becomes possible and easy because you can receive and send money all over the world through WESTERN UNION TRANSFER from Nigeria.

However, just recently; the government introduce a new policy changes on Outbound Money Transfer services. This new policy changes has really affect the rate and volume of money transferable through Western Union. I just hope we are not going back to status quo. I am particularly concerned with Nigerians abroad who may need huge amount of money from their relatives and friends at home and those whose major business is importations.

In one of my earlier article, I showed you how to transfer money from Nigeria to abroad. Today, in this post; I will show you how to send money through Western Union from Nigeria while I emphasis on the recent CBN guideline on outbound money transfer services.

How to send money through Western Union from Nigeria

Things needed for sending money via western union from Nigeria
To send money through western Union from Nigeria, you need the following items;

• the receiver’s location
• Identification
• the cash

Steps to follow when sending money through western union from Nigeria;
1. Visit a Western Union Agent Location
or you can use western union online Agent locator to find an agent near you.

Western Union Agents in Nigeria

The following Nigeria banks below serve as agents to Western Union;

• Access Bank Plc
Website: www.accessbankplc.com
Address: Plot 999c, Danmole Street, Off Adeola Odeku/Idejo Street, Victoria Island, Lagos

• Citibank Nigeria Limited
Website: www.citibank.com
Address: 85 Allen Ave ,Ikeja, Lagos
phone: 01 774 0125

• Diamond Bank Plc
Website: diamondbank.com
Address: 1261 Adeola Hopewell St, Lagos
Phone: 0700 300 0000

• Ecobank Nigeria Plc
Website: www.ecobank.com/
Address: No. 21, Ahmadu Bello Way Branch, Kofo Abayomi St, Lagos
phone: 0704 145 0580

• Enterprise Bank
Website: web.entbankng.com
Address: 9, Wemco Road, Ogba, Lagos
Phone: 01 893 6517

• First Bank of Nigeria Plc
Webite: www.firstbanknigeria.com
Shop No. 1 & 2, First Floor, Block 2, Agric, Odun Ade, Coker, Lagos
Phone: 01 877 7734

• Guaranty Trust Bank Plc
Website: www.gtbank.com
Address: Mei Hotels And Airport Services Limited, Ajao Estate, Lagos
phone: 0805 550 308

• Heritage Banking Company Ltd.
Website: www.hbng.com
Address: 292B Ajose Adeogun St
Phone 01 236 9000

• Key Stone Bank
Website: www.keystonebankng.com
Address: 1 Keystone Bank Crescent, off Adeyemo Alakija Street, Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria.
Phone: +234-1-4485

• Main Street Bank
Website: www.mainstreetbanklimited.com
Address: ATM, Fiiro
phone: 0703 412 9955

• Skye Bank Plc
Website: https://www.skyebankng.com

• Stanbic IBTC Bank Ltd.
Website: www.stanbicibtcbank.com
Address: Ojuwoye, Agege Motor Rd

• Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria Ltd.
Website: https://www.sc.com/ng
Address: 105B Ajose Adeogun St, Lagos
phone: 01 270 0025

• Sterling Bank Plc
Website: www.sterlingbankng.com
Address: 47, John St., Oke Arin Shopping Complex. Oke arin
Phone: 01 448 4481

• Union Bank of Nigeria Plc
Website: www.unionbankng.com
Address: Zone B, Aspamda Main Gate, Trade Fair Complex, Lagos 101241
Phone:077 489 51

• First City Monument Bank Plc
Website: www.fcmb.com

• United Bank For Africa Plc
Website: www.ubaplc.com
Address: 57, Marina, Lagos
Phone: +234 1 2644651-700, 4701416, 2642284

• Unity Bank Plc
Website: www.unitybankng.com
Address: Plot 497, Central Business District, Abogo Largema Street, Abuja Phone: +234 9 6701082-9

• Wema Bank Plc
Website: www.wemabank.com
Address: 54 Marina P.M.B. 12862 Lagos
Phone: +234-1-2778600

• Zenith Bank Plc
Website: www.zenithbank.com
56 Oba Akran Ave, Ikeja, Lagos

• Fidelity Bank
Website: https:// www.fidelitybankplc.com
Address: Close, 2, Kofo Abayomi Street, P. O. Box 72439, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Phone: 234-01-2610408-12

Among these banks, the only Nigeria bank I know that offers Outbound Money Transfer services of sending money from Nigeria to other countries through western union as of the time this article is written is FIRST BANK of Nigeria Plc; others are limited to provision of Inbound Money Transfer Services. First Bank was licensed by CBN and commenced the outward sending of Naira to other countries via Western Union since September 2014.

2. Visit any Firstbank of Nigeria nearest to you

3. Head straight to their customer service desk and tell them you want to send money from Nigeria to United State, London, India, Cameroun, in fact anywhere you want. You will be redirected to right desk.

4. Some forms will be given to you to fill-in the recipient’s personal information, bank account details and the amount you want to send. Fill the form properly and wherever you are confused, ask questions.

All currency conversion will be done by Firstbank, so no need to worry about currency exchange rate For example if you are to send money from Nigeria to UK, Firstbank will help you convert your naira amount to its equivalent pound sterling (£ / GBP) before sending the money. . It is good you know the exchange rate, so you can ask.

5. Present your government issued ID card (where applicable) and the cash you want to send out.

6. Collect your receipt, the money transfer control number (MTCN) and save your secret question where applicable.

Recent CBN Guideline, Restriction and Special note on Western Union Money Transfer

• Maximum transfer limit (in dollars ) is $1000 in every 3 months
• Maximum transfer limit (in Naira) is ₦190, 000 in every 3 months
• Transfer charges is ₦16, 800 for $1000 or ₦190, 000
• Total amount transferable in every 3 months is ₦206800

These are maximum transfer limit through Western Union in Nigeria as of the time this article is written. I will update this article once there is a change on the restrictions and government policy on outbound money transfer.

Formally, it is possible to send or transfer up to $10, 000 dollars every month through Western Union but now it is no longer so….

You can visit the official Western union website; www.westernunion. ng for more information or you can use the comment box below to ask your questions and comments

CBN bans use of Naira ATM debt and credit card abroad. Some term it, ‘restriction of use of Naira debt and credit card overseas’.

THE Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Monday gave an ultimatum to commercial banks to stop their customers from using their debit and credit cards outside the country.

Following this current development, banks have started to communicate to customers through emails, assuring them that it is just a “temporary measure”.

Irene, one of our readers after reading the mail sent to him commented here on our site, “today i received an mail saying from first of January there will be no use of ATM cards outside of Nigeria”

Some few months, CBN ban deposit of foreign currency into domiciliary account; the latest now is NO use of Naira ATM debt or credit card outside Nigeria.

According to sunnewsonline, ‘The directive, which takes effect from January 1, 2016, will no doubt affect access to foreign online retailers. The measure is seen as part of Federal Government’s efforts to obstruct the flow of foreign exchange out of the country following the intense pressure on the naira in the past week, crossing an all time high of over N280 to the dollar.

Already, the naira on Friday strengthened against the dollar after weeks of free fall at the parallel market, gaining N10 to exchange at N270 to a dollar.

The development, which has created huge forex debts with banks’ international financial partners, has forced many DMBs to stop their customers from using their Automatic Teller Machine cards abroad.
The apex bank spent billions of dollars propping up the currency since it fixed the exchange rate in February and tightened trading rules to curb speculation.

It is not clear how many people that will be affected by the latest measure but sources confirmed that Nigerians who travel abroad regularly and use their local cards for shopping and other transactions may be affected.

Some top-end shops in London have signs in Hausa to cater for the large number of Nigerian customers. Already, Diamond Bank and Standard Chartered have emailed their customers notifying them of the ban.

Accordingly, those customers can no longer use the cards in the United Arab Emirates, China and other African countries apart from Nigeria.

Diamond Bank message reads: “Due to the current FX market realities, please be informed that your naira debit card has been restricted for usage in UAE, China and African countries’.
Personally, I know this will happen. What do you expect when there is a forceful fix in currency exchange rate in already inflated economy ?

Some few months ago, the Central bank of Nigeria, CBN ban deposit of foreign currencies into domiciliary account. However, after pressures was mounted by some economic analysts, small businesses, manufacturing concerns, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and politicians such as Senate President Bukola Saraki, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) monday relaxed some of its foreign currency controls by lifting its ban on foreign currency cash deposits in commercial banks.

Central bank of Nigeria governor; Mr Godwin Emefiele yesterday says, “The bank would now permit commercial banks in the country to begin accepting cash deposits of foreign exchange from their customers.”

According to the governor, the policy objectives for banning the foreign currency deposits have been achieved.

Why CBN Initial Ban Foreign currency Deposit

The CBN governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele explained that the policy was put in place because it discovered that speculators were withdrawing their Naira deposits and using same to buy up foreign currencies and then depositing same in banks and waiting to change the same at higher rates.

In his words: “We discovered that Nigeria was fast approaching the dollarization of the economy. At that time we saw that a lot of people were speculating and there were a lot of speculative attacks on the currency (Naira).

“We saw situations where people were going into their accounts, took the Naira out of their accounts to buy dollars. Some were going to their banks to borrow money to buy dollars and then pass those dollars to their accounts and it got to a point that the banks vaults were full and the banks wanted us to collect the cash and to give them electronic dollars which we said we could not do.

“What we had to do at that time, it was like a flood, a torrent that we had to put break to that flood. At this point, we think, let’s open the tap a little and let’s see whether there will be proper behavior by the operators and the people in the market.”

Following the lifting of the ban placed on foreign currency deposit into domiciliary account. Commercial banks in Nigeria have immediately started accepting foreign currency deposit into domiciliary account. Such banks like the GTBANK, DIAMOND BANK etc. have started accepting dollar deposit.

Well, I hope this kind of thing never happen again because a lot of businesses have been jeopardized.

Central bank of Nigeria, CBN yesterday announced that it would discontinue its sale of foreign exchange to Bureau de Change (BDC) operators, as part of measures to reduce the pressure on the nation’s foreign reserves.

The Foreign reserves, which closed last year at $28.364 billion, dropped last weekend to $28.193 billion, indicating depletion by $170 million in the first trading week of this year. To date, it had reduced by about $3.8 billion since mid last year when CBN announced a recovery to $31.8 billion.

In the main time, CBN has lifted the ban placed on Foreign currency deposit in commercial banks.

What lead to CBN’s ban of foreign currency sale to BDC?

– Depletion of country foreign exchange reserves

– BDC Abandonment of original objective of establishment, which was to serve retail end users whose need are $5,000 or less.

– CBN bank has continued to sell Dollars at about N197 per dollar BDC operators while they sales to ordinary Nigerians, with selling rates as high as N250 per dollar.

– BDCs currency dealers have turn themselves into wholesale dealers in foreign exchange to the tune of millions of dollars per transaction.

According to Emefiele’s words: “The bank (CBN) would henceforth discontinue its sales of foreign exchange to BDCs. Operators in this segment of the market would now need to source their foreign exchange from autonomous source. They must, however, note that the CBN would deploy more resources to monitoring these sources to ensure that no operator is in violation of our anti-money laundering laws.

“Despite the fact that Nigeria is the only country in the world where the central bank sells dollars directly to BDCs, operators in this segment have not reciprocated the bank’s gesture to help maintain stability in the market. Whereas the bank has continued to sell Dollars at about N197 per dollar to these operators, they have in turned become greedy in their sales to ordinary Nigerians, with selling rates as high as N250 per dollar.

“Given this rent-seeking behaviour, it is not surprising that since the CBN began to sell foreign exchange to BDCs, the number of operators have risen from a mere 74 in 2005 to 2,786 today. In addition, the CBN receives close to 150 new applications for BDC licences every month.

“Rather than help to achieve the laudable objectives for which they were licensed, the bank has noted the following unintended outcomes:

“Avalanche of rent-seeking operators only interested in widening margins and profits from the foreign exchange market, regardless of prevailing official and inter-bank rates;

“Potential financing of unauthorized transactions with foreign exchange procured from the CBN;

“Gradual dollarization of the Nigerian economy with attendant adverse consequences on the conduct of monetary policy and subtle subversion of cashless policy initiative; and prevailing ownership of several BDCs by the same promoters in order to illegally buy foreign currencies multiple times from the CBN.”

IMPLICATIONS OF THE NEW POLICY SHIFT

What are the implications of CBN’s Ban of foreign exchange Sale to BDCs? As the new policy shift was being announced, yesterday;

• The national currency, Naira, depreciate to a low value of N283/USD1 in BDCs and the parallel markets as against N277/USD1 of the weakened.

• The currency had gained from low business cycle of Yuletide and informal supplies from returning Nigerians, appreciating to N265/$1.0 against N281/$1.0 it recorded in the middle of last month.

• This policy would lead to a further depreciation of the naira.

• There would be cost-push inflation

• It would create job losses

• On the long-run, Foreign exchange reserves would be strengthened (good side)

For those of us who might be interested in knowing daily currency exchange rate of the Naira to Dollar, Naira to Euro, Naira to pounds on both official bank rates and the black market  , can get it here.

Subsequent update of this post will come via the comments.

Naira experiences its biggest daily depreciation against the dollar as it exchanged for N345 to a dollar in the black market today. This is N20 depreciation when compared with the closing exchange rate of N325 per dollar in the parallel market on Friday, 12th February.
Naira also depreciated by N45 against the British pound as the black market exchange rate rose to N485 per pound, N340 as on Friday.

However, naira remains relatively same at the official interbank foreign exchange market as the interbank rate (official exchange rate of naira to dollar) stood at N197.47 per dollar at the close of business yesterday, 15th February.

The gap between the interbank rate and the black market rate deepens to N147.53 per dollar from N127.53 per dollar last week.
It has been noted that the naira has been on a steady decline since January 12, 2016, when the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, stopped weekly dollar sale to BDCs. Consequent to this action, the naira traded at N265 per dollar in the black market. The steady depreciation was also compounded by inability of the CBN to meet foreign exchange demand.

Here is the dollar to naira exchange rate – black market today and official exchange rate (interbank rate).

            DOLLAR TO NAIRA EXCHANGE RATE-BLACK MARKET

NAIRA              DOLLAR    POUND    EURO
(NGN)                      (USD)    (GBP)           (EUR)
Buy / Sell   Buy / Sell    Buy / Sell

12/02/2016    330 / 335  446 / 452  350 / 360
15/02/2016     337 / 340  450 / 455  365 / 370
16/02/2016    345 / 350  465 / 470  367 / 375

UPDATED: For the latest and every other day naira to dollar exchange rate  changes for black  or parallel market , check the comment box below.

SEND THROUGH: WESTERN UNION TRANSFER

NAIRA        DOLLAR     POUND     EURO
(NGN)              (USD)        (GBP)             (EUR)

12/02/2016   193.83     286.71           217.97
15/02/2016  193.83    285.57          216.19
16/02/2016   193.83     284.90          215.69

UPDATED: For every other day naira to dollar exchange rate  changes – sending money via western union, check comment box below.

CBN EXCHANGE RATES (INTERBANK RATE )

NAIRA           DOLLAR   POUND     EURO
(NGN)               (USD)      (GBP)            (EUR)

12/02/2016  197.00    286.46       222.26
15/02/2016  197.00    285.00        220.56

For questions and comments on black market naira to dollar exchange rate today, you can use the comment box below.

The recent free fall of Nigerian currency, naira has put many businesses in Nigerians into a halt while the prices of many commodities have skyrocketed. However, while many Nigerians are crying because of this others who are ‘opportune’ see this period as time to get rich. Seven (7) groups of people have been identified to be gaining from the recent Naira depreciation and would rather want naira to keep depreciating than appreciate. These top seven people benefiting from naira crash are;

1. Speculators
The premium gap between the parallel market exchange rates and the official/interbank rates has increased the activities of traders who do not hedge, but who trades with the objective of achieving profits through the successful anticipation of price movements and this further worsening the currency situation. These market participants analyze and forecast future naira-dollar exchange rate movement; buy the hard currency in the hope of selling them at a profit. It’s not just speculators who have been benefiting the most from the misfortunes of the Naira. Several other market participants are also benefiting every single day the Naira plummets against the dollar at the parallel market.

2. Nigerians in Diaspora
Nigerians who lives, work and earn their income in dollar outside the country are finding this time as the best time. Nigerians living abroad reveal that they began started part-time currency business which involves trading their dollar or Pounds Sterling income for Naira at black market rate with which they invest in Nigeria. Some of them even have to go into borrowing cheap funds in hard currency for the purpose of this business transaction.

Nairametrics reveals that, “some believe this is the best opportunity to buy land and houses as the value of the dollar has now risen by about 70% against the Naira while property prices have been somewhat depressed”.

Again, following the restrictions imposed on money transfer outside Nigeria by CBN last year; the Nigerians in diaspora have been engaging in a quasi-money transfer services to other Nigerians whose children are abroad at transfer charge rate close to parallel market rates.

3. Commercial banks
Commercial banks are in this list of benefactors of Naira downfall. Since the downturn of oil sector in Nigeria, commercial banks have been in under pressure with many oil companies’ loans not being repay. However, they have posted massive gains from foreign exchange sector of their businesses as it can be seen in their income statements at the end of financial year 2014 and the first 9 months of 2015. Most people who purchase items online have attested that banks charge them as much as N290 to the dollar even though the CBN pegs the rate at around N199.05.

Banks’ staffs are also part of this list. They have taken the advantage of the scarcity of the hard currency to force foreign exchange users especially importers to pay close to parallel market rate for foreign currencies obtained from CBN. They oblige the customers to pay two cheques, one to the bank covering the official rate and the other to designated bank account covering the difference in the parallel market rate.

4. BDC operators and the Likes
In spite of ban imposed by CBN on BDC on sale of foreign exchange, BDCs are still thriving in many commercial cities in Nigeria as they have a way of sourcing the currencies from CBN official leakage window and diverting same to black market for over 70% profit margin. They are one of big benefactors of Nigeria’s foreign exchange woes.

5. Exporters
Businesses exporters are smiling now. Officially, revenues from their exports proceeds should naturally; be routed through the CBN as export proceeds. It is however clear that some of them move a chunk of that to the black market. Even though they knew they violates the exchange law; with gains as high as 80%, most of them find it difficult to resist the lure of selling their hoard at the black markets rather than at the official window.

6. Associates of the CBN and friends
It is also been report that people close to the management of the CBN or particularly the government are also befitting from the collapse of naira. They get preferential treatment from the CBN by buying at official rates rather than at the black market rate where a lot of Nigerians go to. Some of them even have to go back to black market to exchange at profit rate over 200%.

There are no sign of naira strengthening in near future. The condition may continue to deteriorate while these benefactors keep enriching themselves, unless the government acts fast.

For your questions and comments, you can use the comment box below.

PayPal is one of the best global online payment platforms.  Its universality and popularity had given the platform an edge over other global online payment system.

Nigeria is one of the countries that enjoy using this online payment platform. I know you will be happy if you hear that you can now receive money through PayPal account in Nigeria. Yes! I too will be happy.

But as of the time this article is written, you can neither receive nor withdraw money through Nigerian PayPal. There are lot of misleading information online concerning this. Do not be deceived!

WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH PAYPAL IN NIGERIA

With PayPal you can;

• Make payment online
• Send money to relatives, friends and family members
• Shop online with millions of merchants.
• Donate to your favourite international charity organization.
• Use your credit card and earn rewards.

NIGERIANS PLEAD TO RECEIVE MONEY THROUGH PAYPAL

Currently, Nigerians are pleading with PayPal to allow them start receiving and withdrawing money through PayPal in Nigeria.

Here is an excerpt that is source from PayPal community

Re: CAN I RECEIVE MONEY WITH MY PAYPAL ACCOUNT IN NIGERIA.

on ‎01-30-2016 09:29 PM

Helo PayPal. 

Sincerely, I think it is high time the limitation on PayPal usage in Nigeria is lifted. Considering, among other factors, its status as the most populous black country in the world, coupled with the fact that it’s got the highest GDP in Africa, I really feel PayPal would be doing itself a world of good by removing every limitation on its usage here. I do not know what the reasons for the limitations are in the first place. I hear it’s because of online fraud. If, really, this is the case, then may I remind you that online fraud is everywhere and not peculiar to Nigeria? There are lots of genuine businesses people here who are being made to suffer for something they know nothing about. PayPal, please this is a passionate appeal from a legitimate businessman speaking for lots of honest Nigerians. I hope this message strikes the right cord with you. Look forward to that day when the news would break that our plea has been granted.

on ‎01-31-2016 02:53 PM

@Theophilus

Whilst you say that fraud is everywhere and not confined to Nigeria, IF you do a Google search on eBay / PayPal scams they are nearly always requesting items to be sent to “relatives” in Nigeria.

Also nearly every scam on this board involves Nigeria.

on ‎03-09-2016 02:23 PM

I am Nigeria, and have had a refund for a failed serviced played back to me which was just rejected by my bank account reporting that transaction not permitted on my card. I lost some money due to it and I know it is just a curse for being a Nigerian. A lot of us are genuine users that just want to live the way other trusted countries’ citizens do, but the reputation of the country has doomed us.

Even though I should feel insulted by your comment, but they are pure facts. I just hope PayPal can have an even more rigorous mechanism for fighting scammers, or that we may get out of here, but it is definitive that one cannot receive money from PayPal in Nigeria, till Divine Grace intervenes in our favour

on ‎03-19-2016 07:40 AM

I think a lot of positive changes have happened in the Nigerian financial system. Take for example the Bank verification number system; where every Nigerian account is now tied to the account holder’s biometrics. As a banker, I can confirm that this system has drastically reduced financial fraud in Nigeria by 89% over the last 3 months. All PayPal needs to do is to leverage on this system to verify users; No scammer would want his biometrics to be connected to a scam because their true identity would be revealed. Other merchants in Nigeria have adopted this system as a means of user verification. PayPal please consider this as well.

on ‎03-29-2016 11:51 AM

Amazing post bro, even I didn’t think of that, genius. Ok PayPal admin, what more excuse does you guys then have to provide?

You need a PayPal account; check out,

How to open a verified GTBank PayPal in Nigeria for free

I completely believe that PayPal is trying to protect their business. Do you think PayPal is doing well or not, let’s hear your own opinion about this issue? Please, argue constructively and don’t condemn. You can use the comment box below for your comment or questions.

Everything I’m going to discuss here will boil down to;

How to pay for tuition fees abroad

How to pay school fees in UK from Nigeria

How to pay for school fees in South Africa

How to pay for school fees in china

How to pay for school fees in India

How to pay for school fee in USA

How to pay for school in Austria

How do one pay school fees abroad now. Look! Nothing has change; you can still pay your school abroad while still in Nigeria.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says it has not stopped the allocation and sale of Foreign Exchange for purposes of payment of school fees and settlement of medical bills overseas as falsely stated by many Nigerians.

According to channelstv, the apex bank claimed that despite assurances it had given, some persons had continued to suggest that the Bank had stopped the allocation of Foreign Exchange to Nigerians seeking to pay school fees and medical bills overseas. The CBN also urged all genuine users desiring to obtain foreign exchange for payment of school fees and settlement of medical bills abroad to approach their banks with their requests and appropriate documentation.

Many Students seeking to pay for their tuition fees abroad have asked me here severally how to pay for school fees abroad as it very difficult sending money abroad now. The suggestions I make to them that work perfectly is what I want to share here with you too.

So if you are among those seeking to study abroad; whether for an undergraduate degree programme or postgraduate programme (PGD, MSc. Phd.), here are steps to take to pay for your school fees abroad.

Paying school fees abroad from Nigeria

There are several means to pay for tuition fee aboard from Nigeria. The current cheapest means is through;

A.  Form A

HOW TO PAY SCHOOL FEES ABROAD USING CBN FORM A

• Visit the customers’ care of any of these Nigerian banks: Firstbank of Nigeria, Guaranty Trust Bank, Stanbic IBTC, Diamond bank, Zenith bank, and Fidelity bank; if you have an account with them that would be better. Take the bank detail of the school that offer you the admission.
• Tell them you want to pay for school fees abroad using Form A, you will be directed to the appropriate desk where you will be given Form A to fill and sign. Please, make sure you fill the form correctly; ask questions where you are not clear.
• The bank will communicate to you after proper filling and documentation of form a, the day the payment will be made.
• Scan the payment receipt and email it to your school in abroad, they will notify you when they received the payment.

If you don’t have account with any of the bank mention above; you may need to first, visit any CBN office close you to present your evidence of your school admission abroad.  After authentication by CBN, you will be given an official exchange rate waiver.

After given a waiver; visit any of the bank mention above or if possible, visit GTbank with this official exchange rate document from CBN

• Tell you them you want to pay for your tuition fees abroad. Present the CBN paper to them.
• You will be given Form A to fill and sign. The procedure continues as in above.

• GTBank may take up to 2 months to make the payment.
• Stanbic IBTC may take maximum of 72 hours to make the tuition fee payment.
• Firstbank of Nigeria may take maximum of 48hours to make the payment.

An Advice

1. My candid advice here is this; don’t wait till when it is remaining 2 months, 1 month or weeks before you starting seeking for means to pay your school fees abroad. Start at least 3 months earlier.
2. Any of these bank mention above may claim to make the tuition fees payment within 72hrs, 48hrs or even 24hrs, I rather suggest you visit them often to make sure they keep to their promise.

B. Through Domiciliary Account

HOW TO PAY TUITION FEES ABROAD FROM NIGERIA USING DOMICILIARY ACCOUNT

Here, you have to open a domiciliary account or use a domiciliary account of someone you know to make the payment.

Some Nigeria banks to open a domiciliary account with are GTbank, Firstbank, Diamond bank, and Zenith bank.

See how to open a domiciliary account with Gtbank, Firstbank and Zenith bank

• Once, you open a domiciliary account let say with GTBank; the next step is to fund the domiciliary account with the require amount you wish to pay as school fees abroad.
• To fund the account, foreign exchange Company, like Travelex may offer better foreign exchange rate option than the black market (BDCs).
• Show GTbank staff the admission letter and they will give form to fill the university bank details and to also add your student name and student ID number.
• You need to have extra money on your domiciliary account for bank transfer charges. The bank charges include; telex transfer charge (optional but necessary), off shore charges
  and £10 if the correspondence bank need to deduct.

B. Through agents

How to pay school fees abroad from Nigeria through agent

There are many agents (both local and international agents) that claim to offer the service of helping students who are offered admission abroad to pay for their school fees. I wouldn’t want to start mentioning them here because I don’t trust any of them.

So, I will suggest you go with the above two options. I did not say they are bad oo.

Nigerian banks USSD code for recharging Airtime your mobile phone

Gone are the days you are stranded, searching for recharge card vendors to top-up your phone.  These days, you can comfortable top-up your phone with airtime from the convenient of your home, office or from any corner through your bank. The innovation all started with Guaranty Trust bank, GTBank and other bank follows suits. Today, what we talk about is mobile banking. All banks in Nigeria have virtually joined the trend in mobile banking; providing USSD code for recharging phone through bank account. Recharging your mobile phone through your bank using the USSD code is very simple.  All you need to do is dial the short USSD code from any of the bank you have account with.  Instantly, your mobile phone will be credited with the amount you requested.  There is no hidden cost.

Below are list of Nigerian Banks, their various USSD Recharge Codes and daily limit of Recharge for self and others (family and friends):

• Fidelity Bank Airtime Recharge Code

To recharge your mobile phone, dial *770*amount# and SEND from your mobile phone (this should be done from the phone number that is link or registered with your bank). E.g. *770*500#

To recharge other phone number (family and friends), dial *770*phone no*Amount# and SEND from your mobile phone. E.g. *770*07038844464*500#

Daily recharge limit is 5000 Naira.

1. To use Fidelity Bank Airtime Recharge code to top-up your phone or other phone number;
2. You must have a minimum of 10 Naira balance on your phone.
3. You have to first register for Fidelity bank mobile banking by dialling *770#

• Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) Airtime Recharge Code

To recharge your mobile phone, dial *737*amount# and SEND (this must be from the mobile phone number that is link or register in your account). E.g. *737*500#

To recharge other mobile phone number (family and friends), dial *737*mobile phone number*Amount# and SEND from your phone. E.g. *737*08099493028*500# (you will be required to verify the transfer by entering the last four digits of your ATM card)

Daily recharge limit is 5000 Naira.

• United bank of Africa (UBA) Airtime Recharge code

To recharge your mobile phone from your bank account, dial *389*033*1*Amount# and SEND from phone number register in your account. E.g.  Dial *389*033*1*500# to recharge your mobile phone with 500 airtime.

A code to recharge other phone numbers is not yet rolls out.

• First Bank Airtime Recharge Code

For First bank customers, you can top-up your line by dialling *894*amount#. Example, dial *894*200#

Daily recharge Limit is 3000 Naira.

• Sky Bank Airtime Recharge code

To recharge your mobile phone from your Sky bank account, the code is *389*076*1*Amount# and send. Example, *389*076*1000#

• Zenith Bank Airtime Recharge code

All Zenith bank customers who want to recharge their mobile line should dial *302*Amount# (send from phone number register in your account). E.g *302*500#

Daily Limit is 5000 Naira

• EcoBank Airtime Recharge code

For EcoBank account holders, simply dial *326*Amount# to recharge your mobile phone from your bank. Example, *326*800#

• Sterling Bank Airtime Recharge code

Sterling bank offers her customers; “Go Recharge”. This is the bank mobile recharge code slogan for seamless and stress-free way of recharging mobile phone using code. To go recharge, dial *822*Amount# Example, dial *822*500#

• Stanbic Bank Airtime Recharge code

If you are Stanbic bank customer, simply dial *909*Amount# and send from your mobile phone register in your account. Example, *909*1500#

Daily recharge limit is 5000 Naira

• Access Bank Airtime Recharge code

Access Bank customers should simply dial *901*amount#. This must be send from your mobile phone number that is registered in your account. Example, *901*2000#

Daily Limit is 5000 Naira.

visit Access bank Ussd mobile banking web page for further inquiries

• Wema Bank Airtime Recharge code

To recharge your mobile phone number from Wema Bank account, just dial *322*035*Amount# E.g. *322*035* 400#

• First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Airtime Recharge code

FCMB customers should simply dial *322*214*Amount# to recharge their mobile phone from their account. E.g. *322*214*400#

Other banks in Nigeria like;

• Unity bank,
• diamond bank,
• Jazz bank,
• Union Bank,
• Enterprise Bank,
• Citibank,
• Heritage Bank,
• Key Stone Bank,
• MainStreet Bank,
• Standard Chartered Bank and JAIZ bank are yet to roll out their Mobile phone airtime recharge code.

I will continuously update this page as the banks roll out mobile airtime recharge codes.

Mobile banking has taken a new dimension in Nigeria. One aspect of it is the transfer of money from bank to bank and to other bank through mobile phone using a short USSD Code.  The innovation first started with USSD recharge code for mobile airtime top-up; now, many banks have improved the service to include money transfers, account balance inquiry, short statement of account and bill payments all by just dialing USSD code from your mobile phone. From the comfort of your home, office or any corner, you can now transfer money to your bank account or to any bank account. These days, I don’t often visit my bank to make payment or to deposit money; I simply use my bank money transfer code or internet banking to do all those transactions.

These  save me the stress of queuing up at the banking hall just to deposit small amount of money. Apart from stress, it saves time. It is fast, convenient and highly secure.

So if you have been searching your bank mobile money transfer codes, below are list of bank available USSD codes for money transfer for all Nigerian banks that offer the service as of today.

• Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) Money Transfer Code

All GTBank customers can initiate transfers to another GTBank account, by dialling *737*1*Amount*NUBAN Account No# e.g. *737*1*1000*2456567890# from the mobile phone number registered with the Bank.

For transfer to a beneficiaries account that is not GTBank or in other Bank’s, GTbank customers should simply dial *737*2*Amount*NUBAN Account No# e.g. *737*2*1000*2456567890#. Customers will be required to enter their last four digits of their GTBank Naira MasterCard to authenticate each transaction.

*737* Transfer service is only available to GTBank customers via their mobile phone numbers registered with the Bank

Minimum transfer limit is N1, 000 while maximum daily transfer limit of N20, 000.

For more information, you visit GTBank mobile banking website page

• Fidelity Bank Money Transfer Code

To transfer money from Fidelity bank account to another bank account, simply dial this *770*NUBAN Account number*Amount#; NUBAN Account number is your 10 digit account number. Example; if you want to transfer N5000 to someone’s Access bank account, dial *770*2456567890*5000# from the mobile number registered/linked with your Fidelity Bank account.

Then select the beneficiary bank Name (Access bank) from displayed bank options.
Access bank
First bank
Diamond bank etc
Enter your transfer PIN to confirm transfer. The recipient account number will be shown to you before you enter your ATM card PIN. This lets you verify that you’re not sending money to a wrong account number.

If this is your first time of using the service, you will be requested to register for the mobile service. To register,  dial *770#, Enter your NUBAN Account number (Fidelity bank account number), Select a 4-digit PIN for your account.

If you have two accounts with Fidelity bank, let say current and saving account and you’re using the same phone number for both account, your current account will be debited first before your savings account.

Maximum Transfer per transaction is N10, 000 while Maximum transfer per day is N20, 000

Transfer charge per transaction is 100 Naira

To use Fidelity bank money transfer code;

1. You must have a minimum balance of 10 Naira airtime on your phone
2. You must register for the service by dialling *770#

For further information, you can visit fidelity bank instant banking service website page

• First Bank Money Transfer Code

First bank USSD code allows customers to transfer money, pay bills, make purchase etc. To transfer money, simply dial *894# and select 1;

dial *894# and select 2 to withdraw money,

dial *894# and select 3 to make purchase;

dial *894# and select 4 to pay bills;

dial *894# and select 5 to buy airtime;

and dial *894# and select 7 to manage account.

• Wema Bank Money Transfer Code

For Wema Bank customers, to do a quick FUNDS TRANSFER, dial *322*035*NUBAN Account number*AMOUNT#.  E.g *322*035*3548667724*10000#

You can now do a lot with Wema bank USSD Banking codes:

• For instant recharge, dial *322*035*AMOUNT#
• For 3rd party recharge, dial *322*035*PHONENUMBER*AMOUNT#
• For Balance Enquiry, dial *322*035*0#
• To change your PIN, dial *322*035*00#

Visit Wema Mobile banking web page

• Diamond Bank USSD Money Transfer Code

Diamond Bank holders should first register Diamond Y’ello account.

Transfer money to any bank, dial *710*777*ACCOUNT NO*AMOUNT*PIN#.
For Diamond Y’ello to Diamond Y’ello Transfers, dial *710*710*PHONE NO*AMOUNT*PIN#.

Other banks:

First City Monument Bank (FCMB),

Unity Bank,

Heritage Bank,

KeyStone Bank,

Zenith Bank,

EcoBank,

United Bank for Africa (UBA),

Sterling Bank,

And Skye Bank USSD codes are yet to roll out their money transfer code.  I will continuously update this page as the banks roll out their money transfer codes. For the time been, you can use your ATM machine to transfer money from one account number to the other.  With you ATM card, you can get this done. Well, this is an alternative to online banking.

Do you know that Paypal now reject Payoneer MasterCard? Do you want to know how to withdraw from your US PayPal account in Nigeria now that PayPal rejects Payoneer Debit MasterCard?

PayPal is one of the best global online payment platforms.  Its universality and popularity had given the platform an edge over other global online payment system. PayPal is a payment option for over 90% businesses online. From the comfort of your home, you can purchase goods online through the use your Paypal account and have them ship to your doorstep.

Before the arrival of Nigeria PayPal (WWW.PAYPAL.COM/NG ) on Wednesday, June 17, 2014, Nigerians  cannot open and verified a PayPal account without using IP changer  and having someone to use his/her USA bank account to verify it. Many Nigerians after opening and verifying the account have to pay someone to withdraw their money through US bank and transfer the money through other means, which usually takes more than 2 months. Finally, Payoneer arrived and ease the difficult in withdrawing from PayPal.

Using Payoneer card to Verify and Withdraw Fund from PayPal account

The era of using Payoneer account to verify and withdraw fund from PayPal account came. Many Nigerians who had earlier successfully open and verify PayPal account using US ip address and USA PayPal from Auction Assistance were able to use Payoneer card to withdraw fund from their PayPal account in Nigeria. Payoneer account has work fine with PayPal without a hitch but not until recently, there comes a big bang. What is it?  PayPal no longer accept Payoneer card. So, the issue now is how one withdraw fund from PayPal account in Nigeria.

HOW TO WITHDRAW FROM YOUR PAYPAL ACCOUNT IN NIGERIA

Now that PayPal no longer support Payoneer debit MasterCard, you will find it challenging in withdrawing fund from your PayPal account in Nigeria. In other to find a way out and as one who is into the business, I did an extensive research of possible means to withdraw money from PayPal right here in Nigeria. So, if you have your money lying dumb on your Nigeria PayPal and USA PayPal account from Auction Assistance, here are means to withdraw those funds;

• Partner with us – we can help you sell your PayPal fund to our buyers who want to shop online and those who want to transfer money abroad. We charge based on the local currency exchange rate of our country and have the money pay into your local bank account. If you are interested in partnering with us, don’t hesitate. You can contact us, now!

• Shop online with the money – you can use your PayPal fund to shop on most online shops. It depends on your needs or what you want. You can use it to purchase goods and services as you wish online and have them ship to you in Nigeria ( if you are in Nigeria). You can sell off those goods when you import them and have you money with you.

• Sell your PayPal fund to exchangers – There are a quite a number of foreign currency exchanger like;

1. http://www.minute-exchange.com Minute-Exchange is one of the major exchanger for most online currency merchants such as: Liberty Reserve, Perfect Money, Webmoney, Pecunix, WiredPay, OKpay, AlterPay and many others. We have lots of local exchangers for http://www.libertyreserve.com/ . So, what you can do is to open a LibertyReserve account, exchange your PayPal fund for LibertyReserve USD and have you local www.LibertyReserve.com exchanger pay into my local bank account. That’s all. Though, very tedious but this is the safest way.

2. http://www.exchangemoneyplace.com : there are lots of service charges incur by the individuals on this forum but one good thing about this exchanger is that you can by chance meet an exchanger who is from your country or who can exchange your fund for your local currency. Nevertheless, there is a lot of risk of losing your money as most of these exchangers do not have. But if you can continue to use the exchangers that have good review, you will be sure of fund being safe. What if they do not match your need? Use the one above.

It is often better to sell your PayPal fund than to wait until you begin to receive funny cocktail story from PayPal like your account withdraw limit is now…,  your account has been suspended…, your account has been frozen due to…. etc. This has happened to a lot of people who kept piling foreign currencies in their PayPal account.

With the above means, you can actually withdraw fund from PayPal in Nigeria

For your questions and comments, you can use the comment box below this page.

Do you know you can Withdraw cash from any quickteller ATM machine without your ATM debit card? Here below you will see how it works!

Fidelity bank, one of top innovative banks in Nigeria in line with seamless economy has introduced CASH WITHDRAW code termed, ‘Dial4cash’. Fidelity bank have initially introduced USSD code for airtime recharge through bank account, follow by USSD code for money transfer through phone. Now, it is code to withdraw money without ATM card.

Dial4cash offers Fidelity bank customers opportunity to withdraw cash from any quickteller ATM machine without ATM card. You can withdraw fund anywhere, anytime without your debit card from quickteller ATM.

How it works

First you have to enrol for mobile banking or SMS banking if you have not done that before by dialling *770#. Once enrolled or registered, you’re good to go!

• Visit any quickteller ATM close to you. Quickteller logo is inscribed on most quickteller ATM machine.

• Simply dial *770*8*amount# to generate a paycode directly from your fidelity account.

• Follow the instruction after generation Paycode to withdraw the cash from the ATM

Conditions

Only multiples of N1, 000 can be withdraw. So, the minimum withdraw limit per transaction is N1, 000.

You must have at least a balance of N10 on your phone for this to work.

Your phone number must be link to your fidelity bank account.

Enjoy!

For your questions and comments, you can use comment box below. For other uses of fidelity bank *770#  code, visit Fidelity bank mobile banking website.

• RESTRICTION ON THE USE OF NAIRA ATM CARDS ON INTERNATIONAL TRANSACTIONS HAS KICK OFF

Due to current volatility in foreign exchange market, the following banks below has started restricting their customers from use of Naira ATM card on international transactions.

• Zenth bank – Most Zenth bank customers receive the notification of the suspension on June 13 and 14.

 Dear valued customer,

This is to notify you that effective Monday, June 13, 2016, your naira card will no longer be enabled for international transactions.

Please be informed that your naira denominated cards will only be used for naira transactions across all payment channels.

For international transactions, please obtain any of our dollar denominated cards from Zenith Bank branches nationwide.

Thank you for your continued patronage.

• Standard Charted bank

Standard charted bank use of Naira ATM card suspension on international transaction kicks off on 1^st June.

Dear customer,

Please be informed that your Naira Dominated Debit and Credit cards will no longer be functional for international transactions effective June 1^st, 2016. This is due to current volatility in foreign exchange market. Your naira denominated cards can only be used for local transactions at POS terminal, ATM and online for Nigerian retailers.

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• Diamond bank

Diamond bank suspension has long existed.

Other banks on our watch list are;

• GTBank
• Fidelity bank
• Access bank .                                                                                                     Though they have not joined the queue but I envisage they are warming up.
  

 Once they join, we will update this post. I will suggest that if you are customers to any of the above banks, you visit your bank, open a dollar domiciliary account and obtain dollar dominated ATM card for your international transaction.

Skrill (formerly known as Moneybookers) are a financial services company based in UK. They are one of the best Paypal alternatives, and it is often regarded as second to PayPal.

This is for a number of reasons. Firstly, their currency conversions fees are cheaper than PayPal, so when converting from USD to Naira you get charged less.

Secondly, Paypal doesn’t allow Nigerians to receive money but to just send making Skrill a popular choice when it comes to Nigerian online transactions.

It is important to note that Skrill is a highly regulated company. As a result of this, they have very strict rules implemented in order to abide by anti-money laundering laws in the UK and throughout Europe.

Skrill is particularly popular among people that use foreign betting platforms like Bet365, Bet Victor, Ladbrokes, William Hill etc., and (Note that you will have to be verified with them to withdraw funds from them to Skrill).

Note that you will need a domiciliary account to process withdrawals, if you do not have and want to open one, read this ;  How to Open a Domiciliary Account with Gtbank, Firstbank and Zenith Bank to create one.

Getting Started (How to Open  Skrill Acount )

Getting started with Skrill is relatively easy. All you need to do is;

1. visit their website www.skrill.com and click the “Sign Up” button. It is important that you fill in your details accurately.

The details you will need to fill in on the form are:

 2. Select your ACCOUNT TYPE – personal or business.

If you are a registered company and want to do business with this account, you should choose business. Likewise if you receive a lot of payments from companies or individuals for services you provide, you should not hesitate to pick “business account”.

If you want to use your Skrill account to deposit to a betting site, to pay for goods or services, or to transfer money to other people, then you should choose personal. If you will be making infrequent, minimal and little transactions, a personal account is all you need.

3. Enter your COUNTRY OF RESIDENCE – Nigeria, except you are currently outside the country.

4. Input your CURRENCY

Your currency should be USD (US Dollars). This is to avoid double currency exchange fees. If you choose USD, you will not be charged anything for making transfers in Dollars. If you receive a lot of payments in Euros or other currencies they may be a better choice. Another reason is for especially for domiciliary account being in USD.

Make sure you are happy with the currency you have chosen. Skrill do not allow users to switch currencies after their account has been created.

5. LANGUAGE – select English.

6. and then Personal Details

Make sure everything here is spelled correctly. Skrill will check all the details and you will need to verify your name and address with scans of your identification and a utility bill.

The fields they ask for here are:

First name

Last name

Address line 1

Address line 2

City

Post code

7. Finally, enter Phone number, tick – I’m not a rebot and agree to skrill terms and conditions; click on open account as shown below.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Skrill only allows one account per person so do not create multiple account under any circumstance as you could end up having it blocked.

THE SECOND AND FINAL PART IS ACCOUNT VERIFICATION

ACCOUNT CREDENTIALS

The final fields to enter are:

• Email address
• Date of Birth
• Account Password – This should be obvious but just in case, make sure you choose a very secure password. Don’t go for something like pass1234 or 123456.

Verifying Your Skrill Account

 Verification is a four part process with your card details the most important, reason being you can use Skrill without necessarily completing all the four steps. The only problem is you will be unable to continue to use Skrill after you have make transactions of up to £2,500. Therefore it is important to make complete verification a priority.

Its four part process includes Email verification, physical address, credit/debit card, and bank account.

The first is step is to verify your email address. As with any email verification system, Skrill will send you an email. You click the link in the email and easily your email address gets verified.

The next stage in verification is to verify your physical address. Skrill will send a letter to the address you entered when registering.

The letter you will receive contains a 6 digit code. You must then login to your Skrill account and enter the code on the account verification page. Once that is done, your limits for sending money to other Skrill users will be raised, as will the amount of money you can withdraw.

VERIFYING YOUR CREDIT OR DEBIT CARD

The third part in getting verified with Skrill is to set up your debit or credit card. The name you used registering must match the name on your debit/credit cards.

Skrill will charge a small amount to your card around $2.00. Once you verify it they will refund this amount back to your card.

VERIFYING YOUR BANK ACCOUNT

You have two ways of confirming your bank details. You can either deposit money to Skrill by bank wire or you can withdraw money.

When you withdraw money via bank wire, you will need to first select the “Add bank account” option. For this you will need to know the SWIFT code of your bank. Contact your bank branch for the swift code at the bank or through one of their online representative or give them a call. Not all bank branches have SWIFT codes, so you may be given a general code to use.

After you have added your bank account correctly, simply click withdraw and choose the amount of money to send to your account. Withdrawals usually take about two working days.

Manual Verification

On very rare occasions, withdrawals from Skrill may not show the code in your bank statement. If this happens, Skrill do provide a third option whereby they will manually verify your bank account. However, in order to do so, you will need to send them on some more details.

You will need to email them a screenshot of your online bank account statement or else a scanned copy of a statement from your bank.

These must clearly show:

• Your name ( the account holder)
• Your account number
• The item on your statement that shows the withdrawal from Skrill in your account.

If you have trouble with this, you will need to go down to your local bank branch and get a physical print out of the actual SWIFT transaction to send to Skrill. Your bank will supply you with a copy of this on request.

VERIFYING YOUR BANK BY UPLOADING FUNDS:

In order to do this, you will most likely need to visit your local bank branch. Simply copy down Skrill’s bank details and fill them in on an international wire form. If you have the ability to send money internationally online, you can do this using your internet banking account.

Sending wires internationally can be expensive and the cost varies from time to time.

Notes for Freelancers and Businesses

If you chose the commercial account option at the beginning of this article, you will also need to send Skrill:

• A copy of an identification document such as a passport or driver’s license.
• A copy of a utility bill showing your home address from the past 3 months.

If you followed all this processes, your account will be completely verified by Skrill.

How to Fund Skrill Account in Nigeria

For uploading cash to you Skrill account depending on the platform will you get charged nothing to as high as 7% .

Using bank transfer via Swift is free and it takes 2 to 5 working days to process.

Using Master and Visa cards cost 1.9% of your deposit and it is instant provided you have verified your card.

Skrill supports many international and local card types such as AMEX, JCB, Diners, Maestro, Paysafecard etc.

PLEASE NOTE: You can verify your skrill account using your GTBANK Naira MasterCard, once you have done that; you can easily fund your SKrill account from your GTBank savings account using your GTBank Naira MasterCard.

Methods like American Express and Paysafecard cost 2.5% and 7% respectively.

How to  withdrawals Money from Skrill account in Nigeria

You will be charged 1.75% of your withdrawals up to a maximum of £10, you will also be charged 2.99% for transfers between USD, GBP, EUR, CAD and PLN currencies and 3.99% for transfers involving any other currency like naira.

Skrill supports withdrawals via bank transfer and credit or debit card (VISA), hence the need for domiciliary account as stated earlier.

Some of this processes and fees can seem a little overwhelming but it’s relatively straightforward. Here is a comparison with PayPal

In conclusion Skrill is decent, secure online merchant for Nigerians and a wonderful alternative for PayPal as a transfer platform and for web payment.

If you run into any issues opening, funding or withdrawing from skrill account; you can  leave a comment below using the comment box.

Payoneer account has been in existence since 2005. Payoneer is a financial business platform that provides online money transfer and payment services. It is also a registered member in Mastercard worldwide. The company is situated in New York City, USA. It gives access to people from different parts of the world to receive payment through their channel and at the same time be able to withdraw those payments.

Payoneer allocates a virtual account number to their subscribers so as to ease access to payment made online as we all know Paypal denied Nigeria access to withdrawing funds from Nigeria. Payoneer serves as an easier means to withdraw payment from services delivered online. With Payoneer, you can activate a US bank account and then you’d be given a US account details that will contain your checking number and routing number. Those would be the detail you need whenever you want to receive payments into a US bank account.

So, if you are interested in knowing how to open a Payoneer account, fund it and withdraw money from the account in Nigeria ; I am here to share that with you.

Read this:

1. How to withdraw from PayPal as PayPal reject Payonneer Mastercard.

2. How to open a GTbank verify PayPal account in Nigeria for Free.

HOW TO APPLY FOR THE PAYONEER MASTERCARD IN NIGERIA

Applying for Payoneer Mastercard in Nigeria is very easy. If you wish to acquire one today, follow the steps below:

1. Log on to www.payoneer.com then click on Sign Up. Application is totally free.
2. Fill in your full name, address and other details carefully, as it is in the ID card you wish to use for verification.
3. Set password, Secret Question and Answer and select your ID type e.g driver’s license, National I.D card, etc.
4. Enter alternate address if it’s different from the address you provided earlier. Beware that the Payoneer Debit Card would be shipped to the same address in Nigeria. So it should be very clear and correct. Make sure you used the correct post code of the address you are using.
5. After that, click on “Order” Button.

It usually takes about few days for the application to be confirmed and approved after which the Payoneer Mastercard would be packaged and dispatched to your location here in Nigeria. Once you have been approved, you will receive notification via the email address you provided during registration.

Delivery of the Payoneer Mastercard to your Nigerian address might take few weeks or months. If the estimated time has elapsed and you fail to receive it, there is need for you to visit the nearest Post Office branch in your locality, give them your name and the shipping address and they will help you to track it.

You will be directed through your email address to confirm that you have received the card by login into your Payoneer account and keying in your card number. After that, you have automatically activated the card for use.

You will be asked to fund it before you can be able to use it to pay or buy goods online. But if you have a fund online you wish to withdraw, you can go right ahead and do that.

If you are looking for a safe, reliable and widely accepted means of payments and carrying out your transactions online, Payoneer MasterCard is solely meant for you.

HOW TO SET UP THE PAYONEER VIRTUAL US BANK ACCOUNT NUMBER

Immediately after you activated your card, there is need for you to log into your Payoneer account with the details you provided when signing up.

After logging into your account, go to “Receive tab” on the top menu to see a drop down menu. From the drop down menu, click on US virtual Bank Account.

Fill in the required information in the boxes provided. After submitting the form, patiently wait for your account creation and confirmation. This usually takes few business days.

YOU CAN USE THE PAYONEER MASTERCARD TO CARRY OUT THE FOLLOWING TRANSACTIONS:

• Withdraw from Nigerian ATM a machine that supports Mastercard options.
• Shopping online in stores such as Amazon, Aliexpress, WalMart, AliBaba, Konga, Jumia, etc.
• To transfer money to another Payoneer Mastercard holder
• To withdraw your online income in platforms such as fiverr, freelancer, etc.

HOW TO FUND YOUR PAYONEER ACCOUNT IN NIGERIA

The methods include;

1. Funding through another Payoneer Mastercard Account

To Fund your Payoneer Mastercard Account via Card Transfer, Payoneer provides a platform that allows Transferring fund from any other Payoneer Card, Visa, Verve or MasterCard from any bank around the world. All that is required is to locate the Payoneer Load Card Option on www.payoneer.com and fill in the required information.

The data usually needed at the Payoneer Load Card Page include email address of Payoneer Card Holder you wish to fund, Card Type, the Amount, reason for transferring to the Payoneer MasterCard.

After filling and submitting the form, a transaction fee of $7.50 is to be deducted from the transferring account as charge for the transfer.

2. Funding Payoneer MasterCard via Online Earnings from Partners.

Another means of sending money to your Payoneer account is by being paid for services you render online on freelancing websites or affiliate sales that you made. This process is not difficult at all. Simply select payoneer as your payment options. Then fill in the card details into the space provided exactly as it is on the card and then save.

HOW TO WITHDRAW FROM PAYONEER ACCOUNT IN NIGERIA

Withdrawing cash from payoneer is quite easy and simple, just use one of the method provided below.

1. You can use the Payoneer Mastercard to withdraw money from any Nigerian ATM pay point that accepts MasterCard using the normal ATM withdrawal method though some charges are incurred on each withdrawal.
2. You can also do Withdrawal of Funds from Payoneer to Your Local Bank and thereafter, withdraw the cash via your local bank account.

Payoneer introduced Local Bank Transfer service which allows you to withdraw your funds straight into your local bank account. This service is open to anyone with a Payoneer account in 210 countries and Nigeria is part of these countries. Now you don’t necessarily have to use your ATM every time and incur some unnecessary charges. You can withdraw your funds straight into your bank account and then withdraw via your bank ATM.

When you transfer to your local bank account, charges are lower.

It can be done through the following steps:

1. Log in to your Payoneer account. From the main menu, select Withdraw and then To Bank Account. If it’s your first trial, there is need for you to add a bank account in order to begin withdrawing funds. To do so, click + Add new beneath the bank account field and fill in the required details.

The required details will include card number, card CVV, date of birth and password. This is a security measure.

You can now submit your bank information to complete the sign up. This sign up will have to be approved manually which means they will check all your details to be sure your account is in indeed correct.

Add your bank name like “ZENITH BANK PLC”. Add your bank account name just like you have it on your account, and then enter your 10 digit account number. For the swift number of your bank, go to Swift Code Nigeria to get your bank’s swift code and put it in the swift code space. For bank address, enter your local bank address.

For bank account descriptions, you can key in “savings account”. Agree to terms by checking the boxes and click “finish” and you are done.

Once submitted, your bank account details will be reviewed and verified. This process generally takes a few business days. Once your bank account has been verified, you will receive an email confirmation and can then begin withdrawing funds.

To continue the Withdrawal, follow the steps below;

• In the drop-down box, select the currency balance or card from which you would like to withdraw funds.

• In the To drop-down box, select the destination bank account – the bank account into which the funds will be deposited.
• In the Withdrawal Amount field, enter the amount which you would like to withdraw.

Before entering the amount, note the minimum and maximum amounts and your available balance.

Also know that you can only withdraw sums not less than $200 and sums not higher than $10,000 at any time.

• In the Description field, enter a short description of the withdrawal. This is a mandatory field. Then Click Next.
• Fill in the details in the Security Confirmation page and click Finish.

That’s it! You will receive an email confirmation after completing the withdrawal and the funds will reach your account within 3-5 business days.

After you Withdraw Funds from Payoneer to Your Local Bank, then you can use your local bank account to withdraw your money.

All thanks to Payoneer Mastercard. Withdrawing money from services rendered oonline has been made much easier instead of going through the hurdles of looking for numerous means of withdrawing online income. With payoneer Mastercard, you can be able to receive money from any part of the world and have it transferred down to your local bank account with barely 1.5% charge of the transaction amount. The payoneer platform has given most Nigerians meaningful means of earning income online.

Bitcoin Background: Below is every thing you need to know about Bitcoin in Nigeria

What is Bitcoin? In simple term, Bitcoin is digital money. It is a virtual currency that is created from computer code. Unlike a real-world currency such as the US dollar, the pounds or the euro, it has no central bank and is not backed by any government. Instead, it is controlled and regulated by community of users. Bitcoin cannot be seen in hard currency, touched or felt but it can only be used online. It can be used to purchase things online.

Bitcoin is majorly used in developed countries like Europe, North America, etc. Some popular online platforms accept Bitcoin as a means of payment such as Namecheap.com (the popular Domain and web hosting dealer), WordPress, Reddit, Fiverr.com, Overstock.com, etc. Research has it that bitcoin worth over 1.5 billion US dollars is in circulation worldwide.

Bitcoin is an open source monetary platform. The Bitcoin software can be edited by any software developer (programmer) in the world but the edit must be reviewed and accepted by many other developers before it is accepted. The Bitcoin users in the world have full control on how to use Bitcoin software and everyone in the community obeys the defined protocols. The software is downloaded and installed by users in mobile app or PCs. The software comes with the functionality of the Bitcoin Wallet which allows users to send and receive bitcoins. The bitcoin software can be downloaded at www.bitcoin.org.

Bitcoin runs under a system known as crypto-currency. Crypto-currencies only exist as computer codes; they are not less real than paper money is (fiat currency). And have the advantage that a very large sum can be carried around in your mobile phone, without inviting undue attention. The decentralized nature of bitcoin is another benefit it has over normal currency. Bitcoin is made possible by the blockchain technology created by the inventor, Satoshi Nakamoto. The most important benefit of bitcoin is the peer-to-peer nature without central governing body; it also involves the absence of a third party when sending money. The flow is usually from the sending wallet to the receiving wallet at almost no charge.

How to make Money from Bitcoin

There are majorly two specific systems in making money from Bitcoin and they include:

1. Buying and Selling Bitcoin
2. Mining Bitcoin

Buying and selling: Bitcoin is a digital currency used in the whole world. This means that anybody in the world can who has interest can buy or sell it. Bitcoin is rated with the monetary value BTC. Bitcoin just like any other trade that sells on forex appreciates and depreciates with regards to circumstances or events. The price bitcoin was sold as of 2009 when it was invented is quite different from the current price. In 2009 1 bitcoin was sold at 6 dollars, but its value rose to a peak of about $1100 dollars in 2014 before it went down to less than $300 dollars in 2015. Currently, as of August 25^th 2016, 1 Bitcoin is equivalent to $576 dollars. Acquiring Bitcoin can be a good business as you can acquire them and then sell when the value is high.

2. Mining Bitcoin: This involves a system where you use your computer and special Bitcoin mining hardware and software to compete with other numerous miners to solve some complex mathematical problems which are used to serve as protection for Bitcoin transactions. If you get lucky and your hardware cracks a problem, you will be rewarded with some bitcoins usually about 25 bitcoins per calculation. If you are very good, you can also form your own group or join groups of people to mine in a pool and then share the acquired bounty. It is quite easier to earn by joining a pool because mining block of bitcoins by yourself could be very tedious and time consuming, the payment might be small but it comes on regular basis.

To start up in mining bitcoin, the first requirement is to install bitcoin miner software on your PC. It is far better to practice with demo version before kicking off and at the same time research more on how to mine bitcoins.

After perfecting your practice, you can then acquire an online wallet where you will store your online earnings. The most popular wallet out there is coinbase.com. After setting up the wallet, the next thing to do is to find a good Bitcoin pool to join that will help in advancing your investment. There are a lot of reliable bitcoin pools online such as Slush’s bitcoin pool; they prove to be one of the best. You can check google for other nice bitcoin pools.

Immediately after joining a bitcoin pool of your choice, the next thing to do is to register your wallet address in your bitcoin pool account. The process is easy and you can do it yourself without stress and assistance. After kicking off, you can recruit people to work under you in your pool account; it helps to increase your investment.

After setting up those to work under you and other needed things, you and your team are set to start mining bitcoins. If you gain experience with the demo version, you won’t encounter much problem along the line while mining bitcoins.

How to use Bitcoin in Nigeria

Bitcoin gains its popularity in Nigeria since 2015. Bitcoin is used by Nigerians to do online transactions. Some people are of the opinion that bitcoin might be an easier means of sending and transferring fund abroad; especially now that the exchange rate of dollar to naira is high, and the dollar scarce in Nigeria. As at August 15^th 2016, Bloomberg updated that 1 Bitcoin is equivalent to 181,350.02 naira.

Some of the platforms where you can buy and sell bitcoin in Nigeria include;

1. http://www.onlinecodeonly.com
2. coindesk.com
3. onlinecodeonly.com
4. bitpesa.co
5. tradenaira.com
6. nairaex.com

To Buy Bitcoin in Nigeria, the following steps should be noted:

1. Find a good and favourable Bitcoin exchange platform.
2. Buy bitcoins by exchanging local currency, like the Nigerian naira for bitcoin.
3. Transfer the bitcoins to your wallet.

Before buying bitcoins, understand that there is no official Bitcoin exchange rate. Bitcoin price indexes exist which pull data from the world’s largest Bitcoin exchanges to create an average. This gets close to a universal Bitcoin exchange rate.

Once you find Bitcoin exchangers in Nigeria; you have to compare their exchange rate on Bitcoin price index and see if it favours you.
A SAMPLE ON HOW TO SELL AND BUY BITCOINS FROM ONE OF THE POPULAR OUTLETS IN NIGERIA

Buying Bitcoin at Nairaex

To own bitcoin, you have to be a miner or receive it as payment; another way is to buy bitcoin with your fiat currency. To buy bitcoin is still a challenge to several African Countries, but it is made simple by a company like Nairaex in Nigeria. One thing is, it is better to buy from a tested and trusted organization like Nairaex which has been around for a while than to buy from an unknown an inexperience seller.

Steps

1. The first step to own bitcoin is to create a bitcoin wallet account.

Every wallet has an alphanumeric code called the wallet address, and functions like your Bank Account Number. With your wallet address you can receive bitcoin into your wallet from anywhere in the world. You can Create a free wallet at blockchain.info.

2. Buy Bitcoins

You can exchange your cash for bitcoin and get them transferred directly to your wallet anywhere in the world. Bitcoin is available for sale in Nigeria at www.nairaex.com.

3. Sell Bitcoins at Nairaex
4. Simply create an account at www.nairaex.com, in order to convert your bitcoin to Naira in Nigeria
5. Fill in your account number into your nairaex account in the payment information tab.
6. Go to the dashboard and select ‘sell bitcoin’
7. Input the bitcoin amount you intend to sell.
8. A bitcoin address would be displayed for you to transfer the bitcoins to.
9. Within few hours your naira would be paid into the account you provided.

NairaEx is a leading Nigeria-based e-currency exchange that allows customers to buy and sell Bitcoin with Nigerian Naira at fair and competitive market rates via bank transfer and fast withdrawal into any Nigerian bank. NairaEx started operations in 2015.

HOW USEFUL CAN BITCOIN BE TO NIGERIANS

Bitcoin has lots of benefits as a digital form of currency, it allows faster means of transaction without outrageous charges, some other benefits include;

1. Bitcoin can be used for paying bills, shopping and making remittances on websites that accept it as a form of payment.
2. Recently, due to the increase in the price of dollars and its scarcity, most parents find it hard to remit money to their wards studying abroad but with Bitcoin, student in the diaspora can now receive fees and allowances almost instantly from their parents, Medical bills can easily be paid for aged parents remitted within the shortest period of time. Also People in diaspora can through this means send money easily to their family in Nigeria.
3. Online Investment: Trading bitcoin is just like trading forex, if you are good in it, you can make money due to how volatile the price is in the market.
4. Through use of Bitcoin, Businessmen and women in Nigeria can easily send funds to their business partners in other parts of the world without any delay or waiting for banks to process the payment.
5. For Nigerians who are into freelance service delivery online such as graphics design, data analysis, article writing etc. With Bitcoin it is quite easier for the funds to be easily transferred to their Bitcoin wallet without any delay.
6. Those Nigerians that participate in MMM can use Bitcoin to provide help as well as get help

With these benefit and more, it can be seen that bitcoin can be of great help in terms of fund transfer and business transaction but before trading on Bitcoin, make sure you make a lot of research on how to conveniently run your bitcoin wallet to avoid losing your money. \

How can one compare bitcoin to Web Money and Perfect Money? Maybe this will be a topic of another day.

You have comment or questions regarding the use of bitcoin in Nigeria, you can use the comment box below to ask.