First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Limited and MoneyGram International have announced a new business partnership that would avail MoneyGram; the global leader in money transfer an opportunity to leverage on FCMB’s branches to offer its unique money transfer service within the country.
The agreement which was recently signed certifies FCMB to become an agent of MoneyGram for international money transfer business in Nigeria, hence, Nigerians and others can receive money sent to them from any part of the world through the bank’s over 270 branches nationwide.
“Our fellow Nigerians in the diaspora can now use this service to quickly send money to their loved ones here in Nigeria using a variety of innovative solutions which will be released very soon,” the bank said in a statement released to BusinessDay.
Olufemi Bakre, Executive Director, Lagos & South-West, FCMB at the signing ceremony explained that explained that the Bank’s decision to partner with MoneyGram is aimed at promoting financial inclusion and enhancing customer experience adding that the development would help the Bank further connect with all classes of the Nigerian society by bringing financial services closer to them.
His words; “We are very excited about this new venture because the inclusion of MoneyGram to our portfolio of financial solutions will broaden the scope of value-added services we offer our customers.”
According to him, FCMB’s ability to deliver MoneyGram’s products and services to its customers further highlights the Bank’s commitment to deliver quality service and promote excellent customer satisfaction as these are the principles that define the bank.
Carl Olav-Scheible, executive vice president for Europe, Africa and Emerging Channels of MoneyGram International in his remarks maintained that the African remittance industry in particular is enjoying a vibrant growth, and MoneyGram is well positioned to provide remittance services to a growing community of customers.
“Nigeria is no doubt, an important factor to consider in our quest to achieve our aims. From one Agent Bank partner 15 years ago, MoneyGram today has 13 Agent Bank partners; the latest being FCMB. These agent banks are operating through nearly 5000 locations in Nigeria and through these our innovative and ever reliable partners, MoneyGram have added and continues to add value as it deploys its huge market presence advantage to constantly deliver customer satisfaction,” Carl further said.
He added that MoneyGram’s business focus is to strengthen interest in the development of alternative payment systems. “We are excited about leveraging technology opportunities as an alternative to our traditional bricks and mortar channels, both in Nigeria and the rest of the West African region. We believe that with an array of alternative channels in hand, we will cater to the specific needs of a discerning and burgeoning market” he concluded.
By: ODINAKA MBONU
