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WorldRemit, a global online remittance service provider, has announced promotional money transfer fees on all money transfers to Nigeria following the issuance of a licence by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to the international money transfer operator on Tuesday.

The CBN announced yesterday the licencing of 11 new International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs), including WorldRemit, to operate in Nigeria’s money transfer market.
   
"We commend the CBN for reaffirming the country's commitment to building an enabling environment and level-playing field for international money transfer services to Nigeria," said Ismail Ahmed, Founder and CEO of WorldRemit. "The new environment will help to bring the estimated 50% of remittances to Nigeria that currently go through unregulated, informal networks into the formal channels."

Earlier this month, the CBN issued a warning to Nigerians both at home and in the diaspora to be wary of unlicenced IMTOs. Following the warning, hundreds of IMTOs suspended their operations in Nigeria, leaving the Nigerian diaspora to rely only on three IMTOs, namely; Western Union, MoneyGram and Ria Money Transfer. WorldRemit said it has received a letter of approval from the CBN enabling its digital money transfer services to Nigeria to be resumed.

"We're grateful to the many Nigerians both at home and in the diaspora that supported our call for money transfers to be restored. A competitive remittance market provides Nigerians with greater convenience and better pricing," said Ahmed, who grew up in Somaliland.

WorldRemit launched its service to Nigeria in 2011 and pioneered low-cost instant deposits to all bank accounts, the mobile remittance service provider said in a statement. WorldRemit is available to senders in more than 50 countries.

To celebrate the relaunch of its service to Nigeria, WorldRemit is offering promotional pricing of nominal $0.01, €0.01, £0.01 or equivalent in fees on all money transfers to Nigeria until September 30, 2016.