How we compare money transfer rates to Nigeria
Where our rates come from, how we work out the true cost of a transfer, and how we rank providers.
1. Where the rates come from
We collect rates in two ways:
- Automatically, twice a day (07:00 and 15:00 Lagos time), from the public pricing that providers use on their own websites and apps. This covers Wise, Western Union, Xoom, MoneyGram, Instarem, Taptap Send, Sendwave and Remitly on the routes where their pricing is public.
- By hand, for providers without public pricing, such as LemFi, WorldRemit, Africhange, Cleva, Raenest and Grey. We check their apps and enter the rate, fees and any deposit or withdrawal charges.
For each provider we record:
- the exchange rate per unit of the sending currency
- any transfer fee, split into a fixed part and a percentage
- new-customer rates, kept separate from the standard rate
- deposit fees for foreign-currency accounts
- naira withdrawal fees
Every country page shows when its rates were last updated. Until real rates are saved for a route, the page is labelled indicative.
2. Automatic checks before a rate is published
An automatically collected rate is held back for review, rather than published, if:
- it is more than 10% below or 3% above the mid-market rate
- it has moved more than 5% since the provider's last rate without a similar move in the market
This stops a broken data feed from putting a wrong winner at the top of a table.
3. The mid-market rate and the hidden margin
The mid-market rate is the midpoint between buying and selling prices on global currency markets, the rate you see on Google or Reuters. We take it from Wise's live pricing, which converts at the mid-market rate, with an independent exchange-rate feed as a backup.
A provider's margin is the gap between its rate and the mid-market rate:
4. Working out what your recipient gets
For any amount, we calculate:
- Amount sent minus the fixed fee and any percentage fee.
- Minus any deposit fee charged by foreign-currency account providers.
- Converted at the provider's standard exchange rate.
- Minus any naira withdrawal fee.
The result is the naira received, the number every table is ranked on.
5. Ranking order
Providers are ranked from most to least naira received for the amount you enter. Providers whose limits don't allow that amount are listed after those that do. If two providers deliver exactly the same amount, the faster one is listed first.
New-customer rates are shown but not used for the default ranking, because they usually apply only once. Turn on the promotion toggle in the calculator to see first-transfer rates.
6. What we leave out
- Payout APIs for businesses, such as Swerve, are listed separately and never ranked, because they don't offer public consumer prices.
- Unlicensed exchangers and informal channels are not compared.
- Card issuer charges such as cash advance fees on credit cards are not included. We recommend paying by debit card or bank transfer.
7. Independence
Some providers pay us a commission when you sign up through our links. This never changes the ranking formula or the order of any table. See our affiliate disclosure.
Limits of our data
Rates can change between our updates and can differ by payment method, amount, account history and promotions. Always check the final naira amount on the provider's confirmation screen before you pay.