More facts have emerged on why leading continental retail banking giant, Ecobank Nigeria has placed zero charges on its flagship e-transfer platform, the RapidTransfer App.
In a recent interview, the Managing Director, Ecobank Nigeria, Patrick Akinwuntan, said “The bank’s decision to charge zero fee on RapidTransfer remittances was borne out of the need to ensure Nigerians abroad were able to send home 100 per cent of monies made through hard work”.
Continuing, he averred that “Because we are able to do it per scale and because we knew that when Nigerians work abroad, close to seven per cent or eight per cent of their sweat is taken as commission when they are sending money home, we decided to make the cost of sending money home free.
“We want 100 per cent of the money made through the sweat and hard work of Nigerians, find its way back to Nigeria, to support and develop our economy in Nigeria. This is why we made the RapidTransfer charges zero,” Akinwuntan added.
The bank explained further that with the upgrade of the payment platform, Nigerians in the Diaspora can download the Ecobank RapidTransfer App from any of the stores, attach their card, from abroad like in Canada, the United Kingdom or United States and remit $50, $30, £30, £25 or £100 instantly to a recipient in Nigeria.
Akinwuntan stressed that the recipient could have a bank account in Ecobank or any other bank in Nigeria, noting that “The payment will get to the account of other receiving banks because Ecobank has put together a global app available for all Nigerians globally to be able to send money home”.
“We offer best exchange rate available. If your relative or friend does that transfer from Canada or Paris today, you will get an equivalent of N360 to a dollar instantly at no charge to the sender. So, the entire money made by your relation or your friend or yourself abroad finds its way back to Nigeria to support Nigerians back home, which is why most relations go to work abroad.”
