Sending Money From the UK to Nigeria: Compare the Naira, Not the Cost
On most routes the column to read is the cost. On Nigeria it can send you the wrong way. In our latest quotes eight of the 11 services priced here pay out above our mid-market reference, so their measured cost shrinks to almost nothing or turns negative, while the rows that still look normal are the ones paying least. From the UK, the number to compare is how many naira arrive.
Read the Naira Column
On £1,000 today, MoneyGram would pay the most naira on the board, 1,860,799, and Instarem the least, 1,795,799. That is a gap of 65,000 naira on the same pounds. Pay by bank from the UK and have the money credited to a Nigerian bank account. Licensed operators must pay in naira, and any payout worth more than $200 must land in an account rather than a hand.
At the 2021 Census, 270,768 people living in England and Wales had been born in Nigeria. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) put personal transfers into the country from everywhere at US$21.81 billion in 2025, a provisional figure. We found no official number for the UK's share.
A low-tier Nigerian account can be limited to one deposit of ₦50,000 or ₦100,000, about £28 or £55 today. Ask your recipient which tier they are on before you send a large amount.
The Board at £1,000
Each row starts as £1,000 sent by bank payment to a Nigerian bank account, and you can type your own amount. Read across to the naira first, then check the fee next to it.
Compare Money Transfer Services
Sending 1,000.00 GBP → NGN · Estimated typical cost · bank deposit, bank-funded
Showing 10 of 17 services we can price for GBP → NGN
Estimates only, not live quotes. "Recipient Gets" is for a bank deposit funded from a bank account, on today's mid-market rate: for a "provider quote", minus the rate markup and fee from that provider's own recent quote; for an estimate, minus the provider's typical markup and fee. Rows are ranked by total cost, the fee plus the rate markup, so a fee charged on top of the amount sent counts against a provider even when its recipient gets more. Real cost varies by corridor, amount, delivery and payment method, and promotions (e.g. new-customer offers can be cheaper). Tap a provider to get its live rate before sending. The dot by each provider shows confidence, and the label says how the figure was grounded: "corridor estimate" is a rate we measured for this exact pair; a currency-code estimate (e.g. "USD estimate") is measured for that source currency but not this destination; "typical estimate" is the provider's general figure across all its corridors; "provider quote" is that provider's own recent quote for this pair, its markup and fee applied to today's mid-market rate exactly as its calculator shows them, and a provider whose quote depends on a payment or delivery choice is left out here and priced on its own calculator. Margins are verified against live provider quotes and the World Bank Remittance Prices database; the date above is the most recent collection. Some “Send money now” buttons are partner links: we may earn a commission if you sign up, at no cost to you, and rows are ranked by cost whatever the link. See how we collect these prices and our advertising disclosure.
Why a Cost Can Fall Below Zero
Our cost figures set each quote against a mid-market reference from our exchange-rate feed. On naira the two can come apart. When a service pays more than the reference, the sum gives a negative cost. That does not mean a service is paying you to send money. It means its rate and our reference disagree.
We cannot tell you why from any official source. The CBN does not explain it, and neither does the IMF's 2026 country report. What the rules do show is how loose the link is between a retail payout and any one published rate.
- Operators have set their own rates on a willing-buyer, willing-seller basis since 31 January 2024, when the old 2.5% limit was removed.
- A CBN circular of 24 March 2026 lets the foreign currency they bring in reach other dealer banks and licensed bureaux de change, to improve the rates they achieve.
- The official market's matching system is wholesale: US$100,000 minimum, US dollars and naira only. A retail transfer is not struck at the number it prints.
- That market can also move a long way in a day. On 23 October 2026 it traded across a range of 55 naira to the dollar.
The gap between official and street rates has narrowed as well, and the CBN says that has reduced the pull of informal markets. It measured the gap at 2.11% on 9 December 2025, against 62.23% in May 2023. It publishes no parallel rate of its own, so later figures come from press surveys: about 1.95% on 3 November 2026 by our sums, and on 23 October the parallel rate was actually below the official one.
The Cost Table, Labels Included
The table uses the same reference, so read it with all of that in mind. MoneyGram, Remitly, Wise, Taptap Send, WorldRemit, Sendwave, XE and Paysend carry the “rate ref differs” tag after paying above the reference, and those rows go unranked.
| Service | Rate and fee at £1,000 | Cost shape | £200 | £500 | £1,000 | £5,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MoneyGramrate ref differs | 1,860.8 NGN£0.99 fee | -2.45% rate + £0.99 | ≈−£3.88 | ≈−£11.22 | −£23.46 | −£121.37 |
| Remitlyrate ref differs | 1,851.84 NGNNo fee | -1.95% rate, no fee | ≈−£3.91 | ≈−£9.77 | −£19.54 | −£97.72 |
| Wiserate ref differsDelivered by bank deposit, paid by bank transfer | 1,862.27 NGN£6.07 fee | -2.53% rate + £1.71–£27.96 | ≈−£3.31 | ≈−£9.22 | −£19.07 | −£97.78 |
| Taptap Sendrate ref differs | 1,848.25 NGNNo fee | -1.76% rate, no fee | ≈−£3.51 | ≈−£8.78 | −£17.57 | −£87.84 |
| WorldRemitrate ref differsDelivered by bank deposit | 1,847.77 NGNNo fee | -1.73% rate, no fee | ≈−£3.46 | ≈−£8.65 | −£17.31 | −£86.53 |
| Sendwaverate ref differs | 1,847.39 NGNNo fee | -1.71% rate, no fee | ≈−£3.42 | ≈−£8.55 | −£17.09 | −£85.46 |
| XErate ref differsDelivered by bank deposit, paid by bank transfer | 1,843.54 NGNNo fee | -2.06–-1.50% rate, no fee | — | — | −£14.97 | −£103.13 |
| Paysendrate ref differs | 1,834.94 NGN£4.00 fee | -1.02% rate + £0.80–£20.00 | ≈−£1.24 | ≈−£3.10 | −£6.20 | −£30.99 |
| RevolutDelivered by bank transfer | 1,806.52 NGN£0.40 fee | 0.54–0.63% rate + £0.40–£40.40 | ≈£1.66 | ≈£3.38 | £5.81 | £67.25 |
| InstaremPaid by bank Transfer | 1,795.8 NGNNo fee | 1.13% rate, no fee | ≈£2.26 | ≈£5.65 | £11.31 | £56.55 |
| XoomDelivered by bank deposit, paid by bank account | — | 0.55% rate + £2.09 | — | £4.82 | — | — |
From our current data, collected November 3, 2026, for a transfer from the UK paid from a bank account and delivered to a bank account. Each rate is the service's margin from that data on the latest mid-market rate, 1 GBP = 1,816.34 NGN on November 5, 2026, so it moves with the market. A dash means the provider has no quote at that amount whose fee and rate we can state. ≈ marks a price between two amounts the provider quoted, where its fee and rate are known to hold. How we collect these prices.
XE and Revolut charge a different rate margin at different amounts, so their costs can fall as the amount rises rather than climbing steadily.
- Ria Money Transfer and Western Union don’t price a transfer paid from a bank account and delivered to a bank account on this route, only other ways to pay or receive.
- We hold no current quote for this route from BOSS Money, OFX and Pangea.
Figures are in pounds, and a minus sign means the quote paid more than our reference. The green cell in a column is the lowest unlabelled cost there, which may not be the row paying the most naira.
That leaves an odd result at £1,000. Revolut takes the green cell at £5.81, yet it would pay 1,805,793 naira against 1,860,799 from MoneyGram. Green only tells you who cost least measured against our reference, so on this route let the naira decide.
Run the sum on your own amount:
Naira Only, and the Cash Line
The rule behind every transfer dates from 31 January 2024. The CBN's reviewed guidelines say an international money transfer operator pays its customers in Nigerian currency only, by crediting a bank account or handing over cash. A reminder in June 2024 put it bluntly: “all diaspora remittances are expected to terminate in Naira”.
Headlines in spring 2026 said dollar payouts had only just ended. The circular behind them, dated 24 March and effective 1 May 2026, is about settlement accounts: operators must now run their transactions through naira accounts at authorised dealer banks. Rules here do swing, though. In January 2021 the same regulator barred operators from paying naira at all, so check again if you are reading this long after the date at the top.
- Cash collection
- The ceiling is the naira value of $200. The guidelines accept an international passport, driver's licence, National Identity Card or voter's card as ID. For this route we hold cash prices from MoneyGram and Xoom.
- Cash from the account
- The limit does not end when the money lands. Since 1 January 2026 an individual can take out ₦500,000 a week in cash across all channels. Beyond that the bank adds 3% on the excess. ATMs stop at ₦100,000 a day, and so do agents.
- Extra deductions
- An operator's agent may not charge your recipient anything beyond what was agreed with you, and the rate, commission and fees have to be disclosed.
- Splitting
- Breaking a transfer up on purpose to avoid reporting is barred.
- Complaints
- Operators must acknowledge and decide a complaint within two weeks, and review it within one more. After that it can go to the Director of the CBN's Consumer Protection Department.
Will the Account Take It?
Nigeria's three-tier accounts cap what can be paid in. The figures below were last changed in July 2016, and the CBN listed both circulars as still in force in December 2025.
On today's mid-market rate even £200 comes to more than the single-deposit limit of either lower tier, and a first-time recipient on a new phone app may be held to less still.
What we could not find is what happens to a credit that breaks a limit: whether it fails, waits or goes back. Nothing in the CBN text we read says, so an over-limit transfer may not land normally. Sort out the tier first.
What to ask your recipient
- Is the account new? A CBN circular limits new accounts to ₦20,000 in and out (about £11) for 24 hours after a mobile app is activated. It took effect on 1 July 2026, and how fully banks have applied it is not clear.
- Does it have a BVN and NIN? Tier 1 needs one or the other; Tiers 2 and 3 need both. An account without them can be frozen under the CBN's Post No Debit or Credit rule.
- What is the exact name? A person's BVN name has to be the same across their accounts, so copy it as the bank holds it.
- Which bank, precisely? A NUBAN account number has ten digits and is unique only within one institution, so as we read it the same ten digits could belong to someone else at another bank. Pick the bank as carefully as you type the number.
Phone-based accounts are common, and they are not all the same thing. On the CBN's lists, Moniepoint and Kuda are microfinance banks, PalmPay is a mobile money operator, and OPay appears in more than one category. We hold no quote from the UK for a wallet payout as such; a service may still pay into these accounts as a bank deposit, so look for the bank name in its list. We could not confirm whether a wallet counts as an account under the $200 rule.
Sending Through Your Own Bank
The operator guidelines do not cover a SWIFT transfer sent by your own bank. Of the six UK banks we read, the published online fee runs up to £25 and the published rate margin up to 3.55%, and an intermediary bank may take a charge of its own. Check too that your bank offers naira as a payment currency. Our India guide sets out the figures bank by bank.
The reason to consider it is a dollar account. A CBN circular of November 2020 lets ordinary domiciliary accounts funded by wire be used without restriction for eligible transactions, and we found nothing withdrawing it. We could not confirm that a third-party payment from a UK bank into a relative's domiciliary account is still open, so ask the Nigerian bank before you send.
No Name Check, No Refund Scheme
Two protections UK bank customers have come to rely on stop at the border, and the Foreign Office singles out West Africa in its warnings about scams.
- Confirmation of Payee
- This name check covers UK domestic payments. Paying a firm's UK account may bring up a check on the firm, but nothing in the service tests the name on a Nigerian account.
- Reimbursement
- The mandatory scheme for authorised push payment scams covers Faster Payments and CHAPS between UK accounts, up to £85,000. The regulator's policy statement excludes international payments. It also says some borderless accounts may be in scope and gives no blanket answer for remittance products, so never assume either way.
- A slip of your own
- Nigeria's instant transfer regulation lets a bank error be reversed within a business day if it is reported within 14 working days. A customer's mistake is different. The bank may contact the recipient and place a lien, but the money comes back only with the recipient's consent.
- A stranger’s story
- The Foreign Office warns of scammers in West Africa targeting British nationals, and says to contact the person who is supposedly receiving the money. Do that by a route you already trust.
- Informal swaps
- Operators without CBN approval are illegal, and the foreign exchange rules prohibit dealing with unlicensed intermediaries. Keep to firms you can look up.
Before paying anything in, find the firm on the FCA Firm Checker.
Stamp Duty and Gifts
The phrase Electronic Money Transfer Levy does not appear in the Nigeria Tax Act 2025. The charge survives as a stamp duty item instead: N50 on an electronic transfer or receipt of N10,000 or more, with the transferor liable. Money moved between your own accounts at one bank is exempt. The Act does not deal with transfers arriving from abroad and we found no guidance on them, so all we can say is that the Act places the N50 on the person making the transfer.
Whether a gift counts as income is less settled than the headlines suggest. The Act does not name gifts as income, and it has no express exemption for them either. Taiwo Oyedele, who chaired the tax reform committee, has said family remittances and gifts are not taxable, and a Zenith Bank leaflet agrees while noting that detailed guidelines are expected. We found no formal ruling. Under a CBN directive of 16 March 2026, payment firms and switches must connect to the Nigeria Revenue Service's monitoring system, so someone receiving regular sums should keep a note of what they are.
Nigeria From the UK: Your Questions
What is the cheapest way to send money from the UK to Nigeria?
Compare the naira that arrive rather than the cost figure, and choose a bank-funded transfer into a Nigerian account. Today's board has MoneyGram paying the most on £1,000: 1,860,799 naira. Most services here quote more than our mid-market reference, so a low or negative cost says little on this route.
Why does the table show a negative cost?
Cost here means the gap between a service's rate and our mid-market reference. When a service pays more naira than that reference, the gap turns negative. The payout is what the service quoted; the negative figure comes from comparing it with a reference it does not match. We label those rows "rate ref differs" and do not rank them.
Can my family be paid in pounds or dollars?
Not by a licensed money transfer operator. Nigeria's central bank guidelines say operators pay in naira only. A dollar credit would have to be a bank payment into a domiciliary account, which a 2020 circular allows for, but whether a payment from someone else's UK account still qualifies is unconfirmed, so ask the Nigerian bank first.
How much can be picked up in cash?
The equivalent of $200, with ID. Anything above that has to go into an account. MoneyGram and Xoom have a cash payout priced on this route in our data.
Can a large transfer go to a Tier 1 account?
Be careful. A Tier 1 account is limited to a single deposit of ₦50,000, about £28 at today's mid-market rate, and a balance of ₦300,000. We could not find what happens to a credit over those limits, so ask your recipient to upgrade the account before you send.
Does my relative pay tax on what I send?
The chair of the tax reform committee says not, though we found no formal ruling. The Nigeria Tax Act 2025 is silent both ways: gifts are neither listed as income nor expressly exempted.
Will a UK scam refund cover a transfer to Nigeria?
Do not count on it. The UK's mandatory reimbursement rule excludes international payments, and the Confirmation of Payee name check is a domestic service. Phone the person on a number you know is theirs before any money moves.
Key Takeaways
- On this route, compare the naira received. A low or negative cost can say more about our reference than the service.
- MoneyGram tops today's board on £1,000 for naira paid.
- Cash tops out at a $200 equivalent, and operators pay only in naira.
- Tier 1 and 2 accounts have low deposit limits. Check the tier ahead of a big transfer.
- The UK's scam reimbursement rule and name check do not reach a Nigerian account.
See the Naira Before You Send
Enter your pounds and read what each service would credit in Nigeria.
Related Calculators & Guides
Every fee on an international transfer, from the exchange-rate markup to card, cash pickup and bank wire charges, and how to see the real price.
How to send money from the US to Nigeria in 2026: the main services compared, bank & mobile delivery, real NGN rates, and the new remittance tax.
The live mid-market pound to naira rate.
Other countries you can reach from a UK bank account.
Sources & References
- CBN: Reviewed guidelines on international money transfer services, January 2024
- CBN: Circular on settlement of diaspora remittances, June 2024
- CBN: Measures to deepen diaspora remittances, March 2026
- CBN: Circular on rates quoted by operators, January 2024
- CBN: Guidelines for the electronic matching system
- CBN: Tiered KYC review, July 2016
- CBN: Revised cash-related policies, December 2025
- CBN: Instant payment circular, March 2026
- CBN: Macroeconomic Outlook, December 2025
- CBN: 2025 balance of payments highlights
- CBN: Regulation on instant electronic transfers, 2018
- National Assembly: Nigeria Tax Act 2025
- Payment Systems Regulator: PS25/5 on APP scams reimbursement
- Pay.UK: Confirmation of Payee
- GOV.UK: Foreign travel advice for Nigeria
- BusinessDay: Gifts and personal remittances not subject to taxes, Oyedele clarifies
- Vanguard: Naira rises to N1,374 in the parallel market
- Nomis: Census 2021 country of birth, England and Wales
Provider pricing and exchange rates are set by the companies named and can change. Figures in this guide are checked against these official sources. Always confirm the live rate before you transact.