How to send money from the United States to Nigeria

About this route

World Bank estimates put the money sent from the United States to Nigeria at about 5.7 billion US dollars in 2021, around 29% of all the remittances Nigeria received. In these estimates it is the biggest route among those this site covers. The figures are modelled estimates, based on migrant numbers and incomes (World Bank data, method note).

Before you start

• Your ID. Expect the provider to ask you to prove who you are before your first transfer. Have a government-issued photo ID and your address ready, and use your name exactly as it appears on the ID.
• Your recipient’s details. For a bank deposit: their full name exactly as the bank holds it, the name of the bank and their account number, which in Nigeria has 10 digits. For cash pickup: their full name as it appears on their ID, and a phone number if the provider asks for one.
• How you will pay. Providers take a bank account, a debit card or a credit card, and not every provider takes all three. Paying in cash carries a federal tax, described below. The quote can change with the way you pay, so read it for the one you will use.
• Time. A first transfer, or a large one, can be held while the provider runs extra checks. Do not leave it to the day the money is needed.

Step by step

1. 1

   Decide how your recipient will receive the money

   Bank deposit if they have an account, cash pickup if they do not or need cash the same day. Not every provider offers both, and the price can differ between the two.

2. 2

   Compare what your recipient gets

   Enter the amount in the comparator to send money from the United States to Nigeria and read two numbers: what your recipient receives and when. Do not judge a provider by its fee alone. Our prices are estimates built from public pages. Check the final price on the provider’s own screen before you pay.

3. 3

   Check the provider

   Look the company up in the registers listed under “Check the provider and know your rights” below before you create an account. If you cannot find the company behind the app, ask it for its legal name and registration details.

4. 4

   Create the account and verify your identity

   Expect to give your name, address and date of birth and to upload your ID. Some providers also ask for a selfie. Use the name that is on the ID.

5. 5

   Enter the recipient’s details

   Type the name and the 10-digit account number slowly, then read them back against what your recipient sent you. If you paste the number, check that no space came with it.

6. 6

   Read the quote on the last screen, then pay

   Before you pay, many providers have to show you the exchange rate, the fees and taxes, and the amount your recipient will receive. In some cases the amounts can be estimates, so ask whether the quote is final. If the amount is clearly lower than in step 2, ask why before you pay. Our figures are estimates, so a small gap is normal.

7. 7

   Keep the confirmation and tell your recipient

   After you pay, you receive information from the provider: when the money will be available, your right to cancel, how to get help if errors are made and how to complain. Send the reference number to your recipient and keep this information until the money has arrived.

What it really costs

Two things usually take money out of a transfer. The fee is on the quote. The exchange-rate margin is not: it is the gap between the mid-market rate (the rate with no margin added) and the rate the provider gives you. A provider can charge no fee and still keep a margin, and a provider with a fee can keep a small one. The amount your recipient receives is the figure to compare.

Example with 300 US$, from our estimates of Nov 14, 2026. At the mid-market rate of Nov 13, 2026, 300 US$ is worth 403,225 NGN. After fees and the exchange-rate margin, the 13 providers compared would deliver:

From the most to the least favourable estimate the gap is 21,492 NGN, about 16 US$ at the mid-market rate. On our estimates, that is roughly what the choice of provider is worth on this transfer. The provider shows the final price.

To check a quote you already have, use the true cost checker. To see the mid-market rate, use the currency converter.

Paying in cash adds a tax. Since Jan 1, 2026, a 1% federal tax applies when you hand the provider cash, a money order, a cashier’s check or a similar physical instrument. You owe it, and the provider is required to collect it from certain senders. The IRS has proposed the detailed rules (IRS announcement). Our estimates do not add it.

How the money can arrive

These are the ways to receive that our comparison lists for this route, with the number of providers that offer each and the fastest and slowest delivery time they publish.

Figures from our comparison (the delivery times providers publish). Confirm on the provider’s site.

• Mobile money. Some providers list a mobile wallet as a way to receive in Nigeria. Ask the provider which wallets it pays into, and check that your recipient has an active account with one of them.
• Bank deposit. The money is paid in naira to the account number you typed, a 10-digit number that is standard across Nigerian banks (NIBSS: NUBAN). How long it takes depends on the provider and on the banks involved.
• Cash pickup. Your recipient collects at an agent location with the reference you send them and an ID that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) accepts: an international passport, a driver’s licence, a National Identity Card or the INEC Permanent Voters Card. The CBN’s guidelines also say larger payouts must go through a bank account, so ask the provider what limit applies (CBN guidelines).

Check the provider and know your rights

In the United States, a money transfer company usually has to register with the Treasury Department and can also hold state licences. Before your first transfer:

• Use FinCEN’s MSB registrant search. With few exceptions a money services business must register with the Treasury. Look up the company behind the brand: a business that is only an agent of another one does not have to register. A listing is not an approval: FinCEN says it does not approve or endorse any business, that you should not trust a company only because it is listed, and that not every registrant appears in the search (FinCEN: MSB registrant search).
• Check state licences on NMLS Consumer Access. This free search covers state-licensed companies, money services businesses among them (NMLS Consumer Access). A company missing from it may be licensed in a state that does not use NMLS, so check your state’s financial regulator too (NMLS: frequently asked questions).
• No trace, ask. If neither search finds the company, ask it for its legal name and registration details before you send anything.

Federal rules give you three protections on an electronic transfer abroad (CFPB: send money abroad with more confidence):

• A price you can read before you pay. Many providers have to show the exchange rate, the fees and taxes and the amount your recipient will receive. The CFPB’s sample form adds that the recipient may receive less because of fees charged by the recipient’s bank and foreign taxes. For most transfers the amounts must be exact; in some cases they can be estimates.
• Thirty minutes to cancel. If you ask within 30 minutes of paying, the provider can identify the transfer and the money has not been picked up or deposited, you get everything back, fees included, within three business days. Some providers give more time, and your receipt should state the period (CFPB: can I cancel?, the rule, 12 CFR 1005.34).
• Errors put right. If the money does not arrive by the date you were given, or the wrong amount arrives, tell the provider within 180 days of that date. It has 90 days to investigate, and you may be able to get a refund or have the money sent again. A mistake that came from an account number you typed wrongly can fall outside this, and some banks and credit unions are exempt from the error protections (CFPB: reporting a mistake).

If a problem is not put right, your receipt lists who to contact, and you can go further:

• The provider first. The receipt has to list the provider’s phone number and website, the CFPB’s and, in some cases, a state regulator’s, for questions or complaints.
• Then the CFPB. You can submit a complaint about money transfers online. The CFPB forwards it to the company and works to get you a response, generally within 15 days (CFPB: submit a complaint).

On the Nigerian side, the CBN licenses the international money transfer operators (IMTOs) that pay out there:

• Look for the operator on the CBN list. Search the legal name of the company. If you do not find it, ask the provider which licensed operator or bank pays your recipient (CBN: licensed IMTOs).
• Know what the CBN requires. An operator must disclose the exchange rate, the commission, the fees and any other amount charged, pay in naira at the prevailing rate on the Nigerian foreign exchange market, and refund wrong or disproportionate charges (CBN guidelines).
• If the complaint is not settled. The operator has to investigate and answer within two weeks of receiving your complaint. If you are dissatisfied, it must offer an internal review, which has to decide within one week of receiving your letter of dissatisfaction. You can then escalate to the Consumer Protection Department of the CBN.

Mistakes to avoid

• Comparing the fee only. The amount your recipient receives is the number that counts.
• A name or number that does not match. A number that is valid but belongs to someone else can be paid out to that person, and a refund is not guaranteed when the number was the one you typed.
• Trusting a listing. Fraudsters tell people a business is “approved” by FinCEN because it appears in the registrant search. FinCEN approves no one. FinCEN advises researching any business and making sure it is legitimate before sending it funds.
• Waiting to cancel. The right to cancel usually lasts 30 minutes after you pay, and only if the provider can identify the transfer and the money has not been picked up or deposited.

Questions

More guides

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• How to send money from Canada to Nigeria
• How to send money from the United States to Ghana
• How to send money from France to Senegal

Around this route

• Compare United States → Nigeria
• Send money to Nigeria
• Send money from the United States to West Africa
• Method
• True cost checker
• Currency converter
• Yearly transfer savings