9 Easy Ways to Receive Money from Overseas in Nigeria

Have you ever wondered about the easiest ways to receive money from overseas in Nigeria? This article is for you.

Are you a freelancer or online merchant having challenges selling your products and services to the international market because you don’t know how to receive international payments?

We all know that receiving money from clients, family, and friends abroad is always a delight Here in Nigeria. Until recently, international money transfers were always characterized by time-consuming paperwork for both the sender and recipient.

But today, sending money from overseas countries like the US, UK, Canada, Germany, Australia, Denmark, France, and Belgium is like taking a walk in the park. It is now so easy that the whole money transfer process can be done in less than 2 minutes.

International money transfers are now similar to local money transfers as the money transferred takes just about the same amount of time to hit the recipient’s bank account.

Imagine being on the phone with your relative abroad, requesting for money, only for you to receive a credit alert while still on the phone with that relative. Yeah, it’s now that easy.

In this post, we will share with you some fantastic ways to receive money from your foreign clients without stress.

9 Ways To Receive Money From Overseas in Nigeria

Here are nine of the most popular ways to receive money from overseas in Nigeria:

1. WorldRemit

With WorldRemit, you can receive money from clients, family, and friends residing abroad at low service rates. This platform makes it easy and fast as all the sender need is a computer, smartphone, or tablet device.

Ismail Ahmed, a Somali migrant, created the company in 2010 while studying at the University of London when he recognized the need to improve the experience of sending money across continents and countries.

WorldRemit lets you receive money directly into your bank account from the sender’s credit card or bank account with no hassles. It integrates well with more than 20 Nigerian banks making their service delivery timeless and seamless.

Visit one from any of the 140 cash pick-up locations nearest to you to collect your money.

With WorldRemit, you can also get instant airtime top-ups to any Nigerian network e.g., Airtel, MTN, Globacom, and 9Mobile. The WorldRemit platform allows senders in countries in 50 countries to transfer money across to recipients in 150 countries of the world.

Boasting of over 125,000 5-star reviews, your money is in safe hands. WorldRemit has put smiles on the faces of a lot of Nigerians with their fast and efficient money transfer service.

If you have family, friends, or clients overseas who want to send you money here in Nigeria, WorldRemit is an excellent choice for money transfers.

2. TransferWise

TransferWise is a London-based online money transfer service founded in 2011 which uses the exchange rates provided by Reuters to facilitate its transactions. With TransferWise, there are no hidden fees.

TransferWise provides you with a reliable way to receive money from another country as clients, family, and friends overseas can easily send you payment via their credit cards, debit cards, or bank account.

With TransferWise, the service delivery is speedy, and you get notified of the money that has just been sent to your bank account in your email. All the sender needs to know about you is your bank account details and email address.

TransferWise is a very viable option for receiving money as it shows the sender a cost breakdown of the transactions. If you’re looking to receive money from overseas, you might want to consider it.

3. MoneyGram

Next on our list of the easiest ways to receive money from foreign clients is MoneyGram. MoneyGram is one of the oldest and reliable money transfer services in the world. With a strong presence in over 200 countries, it is the money transfer platform of choice for a lot of people abroad who have to send money to Nigeria.

Based out of Dallas, Texas, in the United States, MoneyGram provides a secure way to receive your money within minutes. All you need do is visit the nearest MoneyGram agent location to you, provide a Reference number and a valid photo ID (passport, national ID or residence permit) for identification.

Asides providing the Reference number and valid photo ID, you might be required to fill a simple Receive Form to validate your transaction.

Armed with this sufficient information, walk into any bank nearest to you and ask for the MoneyGram section. Within minutes, you’ll be smiling out of the bank with your money. It’s that easy with MoneyGram.

4. Western Union

Just like MoneyGram, Western Union is one of the oldest and efficient money transfer services in the world. It is one of the go-to money transfer services for Nigerians because of its ease-of-use nature.

You can receive money from anywhere in the world with Western Union either via cash pick-ups at Agent locations or directly into your bank account here in Nigeria within minutes of the money being transferred.

Receiving money at Agent locations here in Nigeria requires that you supply the Agent a 10-digit Money Transfer Control Number (MTCN) and your identification. You will also have to provide a secret question and answer for identification.

Every Nigerian bank is a Western Union Agent, which makes it easy to receive your money. Walk into any bank nearest to you with your identification and MTCN, and you’ll have your cash within minutes.

5. Ria Money Transfer

Ria Money Transfer is the third-largest online money transfer service in the world with operations in over 140 countries with close to 320,00 Agent locations. Ria Money Transfer not only lets you receive money from overseas but also carry out mobile recharges and bill payments here in Nigeria on the platform.

With Ria Money Transfer, customers can receive money from overseas directly into their bank account, eliminating the stress of filling out paperwork and having to supply identification, a reference number, or authentication code.

If you have a bank account with First Bank, Diamond Bank (now Access Bank), Polaris Bank and Ecobank, you can receive money directly into your bank account through the money transfer platform.

If you do not have an account with any of the above-listed banks, you can still receive money through Ria. What you need to do is walk into any of the Ria-Partner banks and provide these details:

Proof of identification
Sender’s name and address
Your own personal information
The amount you are expecting
The transfer pin (given to you by the sender).

With Ria, you enjoy the convenience of service.

6. Payoneer

Ever since Paypal delisted Nigeria from the list of countries that could receive money through its service, receiving money from outside the country became tedious and cumbersome.

Payoneer, however, provides a secure and easy alternative for Nigerians to continue receiving money from overseas.

Payoneer’s cross-border payment service has empowered local businesses, freelancers, and online sellers to make and receive payments globally, just like they would locally. In other words, it works exactly as PayPal does.

Recently, Payoneer entered into partnerships with top e-commerce and freelance platforms, affiliate networks, and global outsourcing providers to provide an easy way to receive money from clients overseas.

To receive money through Payoneer in Nigeria, you have to register HERE. After registering, you receive a virtual bank account number after which you:

Visit the website or platform (Fiverr, Upwork, Freelancer, etc.) where you are to claim your earnings.
Select Payoneer from the list of payment options.
Follow the on-screen prompts and click Already Have an account?
Provide your Payoneer login details and follow the instructions. Pretty simple!

After the money has been paid into your Payoneer account, you can go ahead to request for withdrawal into your bank account. Remember that depending on your bank, charges are applied to using Payoneer

7. Skrill

Finally on our list of the easiest ways to receive money from overseas is Skrill. Unarguably one of the fastest ways to send and receive money from anywhere in the world, Skrill lets you get your payment directly into your Nigerian bank account in minutes and without stress.

Just like Paypal, Skrill had barred Nigerians from using its service until recently. The restriction was lifted to allow Nigerians to enjoy its efficient online money transfer service.

Skrill provides you with a digital wallet, an easy way for you to receive money from clients, families, and friends overseas. All you need do is sign up with the Skrill platform and send your email address to your client abroad.

With just your email address, your client can send you money into your Skrill wallet within minutes. After which you can then initiate a transfer into your Nigerian bank account, which will reflect in no time.

Is your money safe with Skrill? Yes, it is absolutely secure as they employ PCI-compliant standards to ensure their data is protected.

8. Paystack

Paystack is unarguably the best payment processor in Nigeria. Everything about the platform lends credence to the fact that they are set out to capture the Nigerian market with their simple, yet appealing user-interface and easy-to-use functionality.

Paystack makes it easy to receive money from your clients, both locally and internationally. With Paystack, you can automate your transactions as one-time or recurring payments.

Creating an account with Paystack is simple and straightforward, unlike other payment processors who ask for too much information.

Paystack doesn’t charge you for creating an account with them. They only charge a service fee of 3.9% + ₦100 per international transaction. They process billions in transaction value monthly because many merchants find them easy to use.

It is interesting to note that if you want to receive your payments from Paystack in USD instead of Naira, it is possible.

For merchants with websites, simply setup Paystack on your website, integrate your Paystack keys at your backend, and you’re good to go.

For Freelancers who render services online, you can receive money from your foreign clients by creating an invoice on the Paystack platform, providing their details, including; customer email, customer name, phone number, and amount.

The client receives the invoice in their email with a Pay Now button, which redirects them to a page where they can make the payment.

Once the client makes a payment, you receive it instantly in your Paystack account. Quite easy, right? Now, you understand why Paystack is unarguably the best at what they do.

9. Rave by Flutterwave

Flutterwave provides a platform for you to receive payments in multiple currencies around the globe. With Flutterwave, you don’t have to worry about going to the bank because you need to receive money from clients overseas. The Flutterwave platform guarantees you ease and convenience to initiate transactions from the comfort of your bedroom.

Receiving money through Flutterwave is as simple as ABC. All that is required is for you to create an account on the platform, provide your local bank account details, and start receiving money from all over the world.

Flutterwave was founded in 2016, and in a short while, it has gone ahead to be a significant shareholder in the market, providing PCI-DSS compliant solution to ensure the security of your customer data.

Rave allows you to receive payments locally and globally directly from bank accounts, cards and mobile money wallets with no hassles and zero set up fees. Flutterwave charges you 3.8% of each international transaction you carry out.

We have listed 9 platforms that can help you receive your payments from clients abroad without stress. Which of the above have you used before? If you’re yet to receive money from overseas, which of these platforms will you recommend to someone else?

Kindly leave your comments in the comments section below. We’ll love to read from you.

Honorary Mention

Our list of the easy ways to receive money from overseas in Nigeria would be incomplete without mentioning Wire Transfer.

Wire Transfer

Receiving money through Wire Transfer is very simple, efficient and secure. To receive money in Nigeria through wire transfers, you simply need to open a domiciliary account (popularly known as DOM account) with your bank here in Nigeria.

As soon as you have created a Domiciliary account with any bank here in Nigeria, simply supply the client overseas with the account details and the Bank Identifier.

Withdrawing your money from the domiciliary account is the same as withdrawing from your local bank account. The only difference is that you’re paid in the foreign currency you received.

Although the money takes a few days of processing, Wire Transfer method is one of the most secure and efficient means of receiving money from abroad.

Final Word

We have listed seven platforms that provide you with the easiest ways to receive money from overseas. Let us know which of the platforms you have used to receive money from overseas.

If you’re yet to receive money from overseas, which of these platforms would you opt for?