The Evolution of Money Transfer: A Historical Perspective
The Evolution of Money Transfer
Let's dive deeper into the historical evolution of money transfer to Nigeria From the UK:
1) Traditional Courier Methods
In the past, Nigerians living abroad depended solely on friends, family or informal agents to take cash on trips back home. This involved carefully entrusting money, keeping fingers crossed that it reaches safely. The only other option was international money orders via post offices. However, these postal money transfers to Nigeria from the UK took weeks to reach and had a risk of getting lost or stolen.
2) Formal Wire Transfers
Things improved in the 70s with traditional banks offering wire transfers. Funds could be directly wired from a UK bank account to a recipient's bank in Nigeria. Though safer, these bank transfers were extremely slow, taking days to reflect and expensive due to high fees. There were also forex conversion charges and a lack of rate transparency.
3) The Dawn of Money Transfer Operators
The 90s saw the launch of pioneers helping in the fast money transfer from the UK to Nigeria. Their worldwide agent network coverage enabled affordable and reliable cash pickup options. Nigerians could now directly send money to their families to easily collect cash from nearby outlets. However, transfers still took 1-2 days for pickup due to reliance on traditional systems.
4) Rise of Digital Transfers
The advancement of the internet and mobile technology has completely transformed remittances. The last decade has seen the rise of fully digital players leveraging online transfers. Now you can securely send money from the UK to Nigeria from the comfort of phone apps or websites in a few clicks to bank accounts or mobile wallets instantly.
Integration of blockchain and artificial intelligence is further enhancing the security, speed and experience of transfers. Biometrics and simpler KYC also expand access for consumers. Rates and fee comparison portals now enable finding the cheapest yet secure money transfer from the UK to Nigeria.
Increased Adoption of Online Transfers
The ease, instant access and transparency of new players have increased the adoption of digital remittance channels exponentially in recent years.
According to the World Bank, officially recorded remittance flows to Nigeria grew to over $19.2 billion in 2021 and are slated to keep rising steadily at over 10% yearly through 2025 due to the rapid adoption of technology. Mobile money services and direct bank account transfers now process almost 90% of total transaction volume from overseas.
Conclusion
While traditional money transfer methods involved unreliable couriers, lengthy delays and opaque charges, the sequence of technology upgrades has led to faster, affordable and transparent processes. So next time you have to send money from the UK to Nigeria, appreciate how much easier transfers have gotten over the decades!
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