In the fast-paced tech world that we live in today, there is a growing need to quickly and safely transfer money across international borders for various reasons. But, finding a secure way to send money is not enough. More importantly, many people are also particular about the ease of sending money.

The growing population of talents within Nigeria has opened doors to remote international gigs for many. We have seen that become increasingly common amongst the young Nigerian population. A nagging issue for most is how to get paid for their skills and talent without stress.

For people who run international businesses and require payments from countries like the United Kingdom, the recurring question is the same - How do I receive pounds in Nigeria?

In reality, the challenge is not always an absence of means to receive payment in foreign currency in Nigeria. It is more about the stress of using these channels and the lack of control of your money.

Here, we will share an easy way to receive money from the UK into your account in Nigeria.

The best way to receive money from the UK

Without a doubt, one of the easiest ways to transfer money is through bank transfer. However, this gets complicated quickly when you have to make a bank transfer across borders, like sending from a GBP account to an NGN account. Other than the delays encountered in sending money this way, there are also the issues of transaction limits and exorbitant fees.

Here is where Grey's virtual foreign accounts come into play. Your GBP virtual account is addressable in payment clearing networks in the UK, which allows you to receive payments swiftly with low transfer/international fees. These payment schemes include Faster Payments(FPS), CHAPS and Bacs.

What is a virtual foreign bank account?

As the name implies, a virtual foreign account is a bank account available to you on your electronic devices (mobile phones or computers). It functions like a regular local bank account and lets you complete international transactions as if they were local transactions.

What we mean:

With a Grey account, you can send or receive money denominated in a particular currency. With a virtual GBP account, you can receive pounds in Nigeria without hassle. It is possible because, with a virtual account, we provide you with a personalized account number, swift code, sort code and IBAN (International bank account number). These will make it easy for you to transfer money directly in pounds.

Read more: What is Virtual Banking?

Steps to receive money (GBP) from the UK in Nigeria

Follow these steps to receive money either in pounds in Nigeria.

1. Create an account: On Grey, this process is simple. You will sign up for an account with your basic information,
2. Provide KYC document: The next step is to provide KYC (Know Your Customer) document. This step will help us to process your virtual foreign account.
3. Share your account details with the sender: Once your virtual account is ready, you can send your account details to the sender. They will then be able to transfer funds directly to your account.

Receiving funds to your GBP virtual account can take up to 1-3 business days. This duration depends on the payment scheme used by the sending bank.

That is it!

Your virtual GBP account works like a local bank account. This means you can leave the money there for as long as you want or transfer it out to any other GBP account.

Additionally, you can also choose to convert your pounds to Naira (NGN) instantly.

How to convert GBP to NGN instantly on Grey

Grey offers highly competitive rates for currency exchange so you can swiftly convert your foreign currencies to Naira. Here is how to convert to Naira:

1. From your dashboard, click on Balances
2. Select your preferred currency (e.g. GBP)
3. Select Swap Funds
4. Choose NGN as the balance to transfer to
5. Enter the amount to swap and confirm the transaction.

The specified amount is instantly converted to Naira (NGN) in your Grey account. You can easily withdraw this to your bank account.

Ready?

You can start receiving payments in foreign currencies directly with Grey. It takes less than 5 minutes to create an account to send or receive international payments.