Abuja, Nigeria – The Central Bank of Nigeria has ordered all International Money Transfer Operators working in the country to open and maintain naira settlement accounts with authorised dealer banks, in a bid to tighten oversight of diaspora remittances and improve transparency in the foreign exchange market.
Okay News reports that the directive, contained in a March 24, 2026 circular signed by Trade and Exchange Department Director Musa Nakorji and published on the central bank’s website, requires every international money transfer operator to route all inflows, payments to beneficiaries and related settlements strictly through these designated naira accounts held with Nigerian authorised dealer banks.
The circular states that the measure is aimed at enhancing diaspora remittances and strengthening transparency, traceability and effective monitoring of transactions, adding that firms may keep multiple settlement accounts across different banks but must clearly label them as remittance settlement accounts and submit full details to the Central Bank of Nigeria with periodic updates where necessary.
Under the new rules, the settlement accounts can only be funded with actual remittance inflows and proceeds of foreign exchange conversions by licensed international money transfer operators or their agents in the Nigerian foreign exchange market, a restriction intended to prevent the accounts from being used for unrelated funding and to keep a clean audit trail.
To support smoother market operations, authorised dealer banks have been permitted to process foreign currency transfers from these settlement accounts to other banks and approved participants, including licensed Bureau De Change operators, which the central bank says should help liquidity move more efficiently through the official system.
The Central Bank of Nigeria also set new pricing expectations, directing international money transfer operators to benchmark their exchange rates using the Bloomberg BMatch system, and instructing them to observe real time market prices on the platform and use those levels as guidance when pricing transactions for customers and authorised dealers.
According to the circular, this market based approach is designed to improve price discovery, reduce information gaps between money transfer firms and banks and encourage more activity in the formal foreign exchange market rather than in informal channels.
The apex bank reminded all operators that they must maintain proper transaction records for regulatory review and fully comply with anti money laundering, counter terrorism financing and counter proliferation financing rules, stressing that the directive will take effect from May 1, 2026 and that firms are expected to meet the deadline.
The move underscores a broader push by the Central Bank of Nigeria to channel diaspora remittance flows through formal banking channels, boost liquidity in the official foreign exchange window and strengthen regulatory visibility over cross border inflows into Africa’s largest economy.
