The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Wednesday directed the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (IMTOs) to handle diaspora remittances into the economy.
The NIBSS operation on the inflows will commence once its portal, which is under development to improve visibility of foreign remittances flow is completed.
The apex bank also accused International Money Transfer Operators (IMTOs) of disobeying its previous order to pay diaspora remittances beneficiaries in dollars.
According to a statement by the apex bank, ” afew operators continue to pay remittances in local currency contrary to regulatory directive”.
The apex bank further mandated that Switches and Processors should immediately cease all local currency transfers in respect of foreign currency remittances through IMTOs.
It said all Mobile Money Operators should immediately disable wallets from receipt of funds from IMTOs.
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Also, Payment Service Providers are directed to stop integrating their systems with IMTOs going forward and must prevent combining remittances with other legitimate transactions.
All IMTOs are required to immediately disclose to beneficiaries that they exercise discretion to receive transfer in foreign currency cash or directly into their domiciliary accounts.
“All licensed institutions are required to comply with the new guidelines as contraventions will attract stiff regulatory sanction including revocation of license,” the apex bank said.
The apex bank said it remained committed to promoting transparency in the administration of Diaspora remittances into Nigeria and will continue to enforce policies that will stabilize and deepen the Nigerian foreign exchange market.
