How to send money to Nigeria from the USA at the best USD-NGN exchange rate

There is no legal cap on how much you can send from the US to Nigeria.

However, the limits will depend on the money transfer company you use, for example:

• Western Union will cap the transfer at $10,000

• Wise will cap the receiving amount at 95,000,000 NGN (around 63000 USD)

• WorldRemit is limited to $5000.00 per transfer

• XE has no limit but you may be required to contact them directly instead of using the online portal

We recommend using Wise for medium-sized transfers as they are the cheapest, XE for large transfers as they have no limits, and Western Union for small cash transfers.

For exceptionally large transfers, make sure to let your bank know about it in advance, to avoid blocking or delaying your transaction.

In addition, any money transfers from the US over $10,000 must be reported to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). Splitting up the transactions with the sole purpose of avoiding the checks can result in more checks and be considered as structuring.

Generally, money transfers are not automatically considered taxable income in Nigeria. However, the key is the nature and the source of the funds.

If you are receiving money from friends or family, sending money between your own accounts, or receiving a gift (that isn’t a payment for goods or services), then this is not considered taxable income.

Any transfers representing any type of earning are taxable under Nigerian law.

Here’s a breakdown of income tax rates in Nigeria (as of Q2 2024):

The information provided is not professional tax advice, please consult your tax advisor.

The cheapest way to pay for your transfer from the US is via bank transfer with Paysend.

How you pay affects the cost, speed, and the amount of NGN you receive.

Here are your options:

*Based on a $550 transfer to Nigeria using comparison data. Negative markup means worse than the mid-market rate.

When possible, avoid wiring USD to Nigeria directly with your bank. The fees are much higher than those of a money transfer company.

In general, the quicker you need NGN delivered, the more it will cost you in fees.

The speed of the transfers to Nigeria depends on the USD amount, timing, and transfer method used.

If you recipient needs money urgently, we recommend the following options:

In any case, avoid using your bank to wire money to Nigeria, as it can take up to 10 business days and will be much more expensive.

For recurring payments to Nigeria, we recommend sticking with a money transfer company such as Wise or WorldRemit or an app like Lemfi or M-PESA, depending on what you want to do with the money after.

Money transfer companies like WorldRemit and Wise have a feature to create scheduled and recurring payments.

Once created, all you need is a funding method and it will send money based on your schedule until stopped.

The receiving process is very simple, in most scenarios the receiver won’t need to do anything and NGN will land directly into their bank account, mobile wallet, or money transfer balance.

The only time they will need to provide additional information is for cash pickup and home delivery.

Once they come to collect NGN (or have it delivered to the door), they will need to have the following information:

• A valid Nigerian passport or NIN card (must exactly match the transfer details)

• Senders information such as their name

• The amount of NGN received (sometimes they may ask how much USD was sent)

• Transfer reference number which is usually given to the sender